Falling Towards Forever
by TPowOMi
Summary: As Kyle and his friends start their first year of high-school, his life becomes frustratingly complicated when he notices his thoughts are always on Stan. Can he stop these thoughts? Or will he succumb to them? Slash. STYLE Butters/Tweek
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is just an introductory chapter, story threads and slash will follow.

**Disclamer**: I don't own any part of South Park or any of its characters.

-----

Was this really happening? It almost seemed like he'd be young forever, but here he was sitting on the bus to start his first day of sophmore year...real high school. Kyle Broflovski was sitting next to his best friend Stan Marsh, he felt lucky that Stan was still living in South Park and didn't move away at some point. Even Kenny McCormick was there. Unfortunately...so was hippo-ass.

Cartman had gotten himself a job last year at the local pizza joint to earn the money he wanted for God knows what, seeing how "business" was a little slower for Liane Cartman. A motorcycle can only be driven so much until the gas tank gets a little messed up. Working at the pizza place helped Cartman keep a robust figure, which Kyle was excited about because all of that flab tended to draw from Cartman's energy so he couldn't be a 5-star douche as much as he'd like. Kyle LOVED seeing Cartman doze off in the middle of a screaming match. Then the guys would coat his mouth with melted chocolate bars or ice cream and tell him he ate himself unconscious again. He'd usually grumble, "Shut the hell up you ass-hole liars, I have more self-control than that." But they knew he wasn't as confident as he sounded.

Kyle looked over at Stan, his expression was slightly grim. Hell, it probably was for most of the bus. They were going to a new, much larger school building with a helluva lot more students that none of them had met, and they were going a lot farther from home than they were used to. Central High, home of the "Snowman Soldiers" was near the middle of all the crap towns in that part of Colorado. So the boys had to drive for almost a half-hour on the bus to get there. Now...the Snowman Soldier was their mascot? That was damn...DAMN stupid in Kyle's mind. He shook it off as he talked to Stan.

"How's it going Stan?"

"Guh...I don't know. Why the hell does the school have to be so far away? It's only 7 and here we are on the damn bus already. We should be allowed a little more sleep than this!"

"Awww...didn't get our pussy beauty sleep last night?" Cartman mocked.

"Hey, how's your back after breaking your bed last night Whale Boy?" Stan calmy replied.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Oh that's right, all the cholesterol swimming around your brain is retarding you. Sorry for making you over-stimulated. Go back to your coloring book."

"HIPPY BASTARDS!! I'll fuckin' kill you guys if you don't show some damned respect!"

"Not if you kill yourself first from butter injections." Kenny said, fighting a yawn.

Cartman's face was turning beet red at this point. "Don't you even THINK you're worth my time ghetto trash."

"What'd you say? I couldn't hear you over your chins."

"MEEIIIGGH!! FUCKERS!!"

The bus driver cut-in over the bus intercom:"Could someone stop that talking bean-bag chair or whatever the hell that is from making so much noise please?"

This proved too much for Cartman, and he promptly passed out.

"Too bad we don't have any candy to smear on him." Kyle mused. "So what classes do you have Stan?"

"Ugh...classes. Well, let me double-check." He pulled his schedule out of his folder: "Chemistry, Geology, English, PE, Guitar, Algebra, and Health."

"Guitar?"

"Yeah you need some of those kind of electives to graduate, and it might be interesting to play the guitar. I could be like Stephen Lynch. Besides, it's only for one semester, next semester I'm taking Driver's Ed."

"Are you going to do football again this year for PE?"

"Nah, football was starting to piss me off. If the coach was that much of an ass in middle school I can only imagine how bad it'd be in high school. I'm just gonna take track this year."

"Really? I was considering that...I'll probably join you."

"That'd kick ass. How about your classes?"

Stan and the guys knew a few of Kyle's classes would be harder. He started ahead of the game back in middle school. "Chemistry, PE, Trigonometry, Spanish, AP European History, English, and Health."

"Cool, we have 2 classes together. What is AP European History?"

"I'm not sure exactly, I just know it counts as a history credit towards college."

"Damn. I don't like to think that far ahead."

Kenny cut in: "Well you're a crazy bastard Kyle, but good luck."

"Uh...thanks."

Kyle looked at Kenny then, he was one of the few who looked pretty indifferent about this whole "high school" thing. Kenny also had a job part-time working as a bagger at the local market in South Park. He used the money to get himself some decent clothes for once, and it really helped out his image at school...mainly with the ladies. Kenny would never admit if he'd slept with any girls back in middle school, he'd just smugly reply. "Let's just say the cow had one hell of a time." Kyle didn't know how he got away with calling girls "cows". Oh well.

"So how about you Kenny? What are your classes?"

Kenny yawned again. "Good idea, I should probably see what classes I have before I go to school eh?"

Kyle and Stan smirked slightly.

"Alright...Chemistry, PE, English, World History, Ceramics, Algebra, and Health."

"Ceramics?!" Stan and Kyle blurted incredulously.

"Hell yeah dudes, it'll help me master my sensual and caressing touch I give to the ladies...if ya catch my drift."

"Yeah, yeah we do Kenny. How couldn't we? Just let them down easy after you're done feeling them up, horn-dog." Stan said shaking his head.

"Rrruff!" Kenny laughed a little at himself. Kyle and Stan couldn't think of a way to respond.

"But it looks like we have quite a few classes together Kenny."

"I guess so."

Kyle was a bit bummed that he has only 2 classes with Stan, but he had his future to think about and wasn't ashamed of going to some harder classes. When they finally arrived at the school Kenny shoved Cartman to wake him up. They could hear Cartman whining, "Fuck you Maam school is for hippies!"

As they were walking off the bus Kyle had to remark to Stan, "I don't know how his mother puts up with him."

"It's one of the world's great mysteries isn't it?"

As the teenagers from South Park stared at their new high school they all took a deep breath and walked forward.

"Here goes." Kyle said to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Tweek needed unreal amounts of coffee to get himself out of the house and onto the bus for school. And now that he stood there staring at the huge school building, he desperately needed more. "GAAGH! It's huge!! This sucks ass! ASS!! AGH! Jesus help me!"

"Hey now calm down Tweek, ya just need to give it a chance." Butters nervously walked up next to Tweek outside of the main doors, his shaky voice betraying his words. "Lotta kids go through high school, we can survive too."

"Guugghh, school's different for us! They'll probably gas us for their twisted experiments! And we'll never know about it until we're DEAD! ACK!"

"Oh Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, do ya really think so?! I don't like lethal gasses Tweek!" Butters grabbed Tweek's hand as if he were holding on for dear life.

"For fuck's sake you two, suck it up and get the hell in there." Cartman sauntered up behind them and shoved them towards the doors.

They both gulped and walked in, still holding each other's hand. It was a bit of a habit Butters had picked up over the last few years, and Tweek didn't mind because it helped curb his thoughts of spontaneously floating away...even though sometimes Tweek wished that'd happen so he could get away from it all, but then he wouldn't know where to get his coffee.

"Hey, let's get our schedules out so we know where to go." They put their backpacks down and pulled out their class schedules. Well...Butters did anyway. Tweek took over two minutes getting the zipper all the way down. "Let me help you with that." Butters offered. After inspecting the papers for a moment, Butters grinned a little bit. "Hey we both have English first, it's room L104, let's go find it! Oh boy! It's like a scavenger hunt!"

"YAH! Scavengers eat corpses! SICK BASTARDS!!"

"Well...we'll never do that. I don't think anyways." Butters said absent-mindedly. They then walked off together, Butters trying to keep focus on where they were going, and Tweek reciting coffee flavors out loud to calm himself down.

-----

Kyle had taken a small tour of the school a week before so he was able to lead the guys to their chemistry class. He was surprised when the bell rang and the teacher hadn't shown up yet. He, Kenny, and Stan were in the second row from the front. Kyle had a notebook and pencil out, Kenny just stared blankly at the wall, and Stan followed suit after Kyle, figuring having writing material out was a good idea.

"Wonder what we'll have to do today?" Kyle thought out loud.

"We'll probably get some shitty pre-quiz. Just to make us feel stupid." Stan grumbled.

Kyle looked around at all the students that he didn't recognize, which was most of them. About 30 were in the class, most looked normal, several looked all punk or grungy like skaters. One that caught his eye was a light brown haired kid with a mop of hair that flared out almost fully covering his ears. He had a small stud in his left ear, really baggy black, dusty pants that showed the upper half of his boxers and a useless large black belt that covered the belt loops of the pants with three rows of silver rings. His black shirt had short sleeves and the front had a picture of some random skater drawn in only white lines and in huge letters above him the numbers "360" could be seen. His hoodie was draped over the back of his chair.

"Wow." Was all Kyle could say.

Stan looked over. "What?"

"Just the way some guys are dressing nowadays." Kyle felt a little weird saying this. He felt like he qualified for those whiny old people you see in the movies, going on about what's wrong with the world today. But really, what was the point of looking like that? He could only think of the guy as a douche.

Kyle motioned slightly to the guy 2 rows behind them. "Look at that guy, you could see most of his ass if you were behind him."

"What?!" Stan quickly glanced over and saw that Kyle meant his ass through his boxers. "Oh, I seriously thought you meant...you know...bare."

"Hell no dude! Sick!"

"Why are you guys talking about bare asses over there?" Kenny chimed in.

"We're not! I'm just noticing that some guys dress really weird around here. They barely have their pants covering up their underwear."

"Hmmm...that's not a bad idea. Let the ladies do a little window shopping before entering the store."

"Seriously don't start doing that, it's messed up."

The teacher walked in then. He was only slightly over-weight with thin, reddish-brown hair and rectangular glasses. His plaid button-down shirt was tucked into his faded jeans. Kyle could see the indentation of the teachers wallet in his back pocket, showing that it was always put there due to the white rectangular mark it had left long before. "My name is Mr. Clark, and I assume you all know you're here to learn chemistry. This is also going to be your home room, so if you're ever told to go there...come here. Right. To start let me pass a roll around to see who's here. While you do that, I'm going to check out chemistry books to all of you."

Stan leaned over to Kyle and whispered, "Shit, books already??"

"Might as well get them now."

Mr. Clark brought five books over at a time, putting one down on each student's desk, flipping open the front cover, and marking down the book number written in black marker that was on the inside, while asking the student's name. After that the teacher passed out a class syllabus for the year and had the students read paragraphs out loud for the class.

"Damn, we can read it for ourselves." Kenny mumbled to Stan and Kyle.

Before they knew it, the bell had rang and class was already dismissed.

"Sweet!" Stan exclaimed, putting his chemistry book into his backpack.

"That's it?" Kyle said surprised.

"Dude don't complain, it won't always be this easy. Unless Hell froze over already."

"No doubt."

"Okay Stan see you later, let's go to PE Kenny." They parted with Stan waving goodbye and Kenny just shrugging.

-----

Anticipation for the class to start once Butters and Tweek arrived was murder on Tweek's nerves, even though they were in the back row. Butters felt bad for Tweek, he watched as Tweek kept tugging on his hair and biting his nails. After a few moments the nails were gone and he kept biting on the tips of his fingers and exclaming quiet "Ow!"s.

"Well gee Tweek class hasn't even started yet. Come on think happy thoughts! Like Bennigan's!"

"Ow! Grr...ow! What's Bennigan's?"

"Oh it's the best restaurant ever!"

"AH! No Harbuck's is the best restaurant ever. They have triple caff mochas now! I was worried about being sold into slavery (EEK!) until my dad got a management position there. Now we get all our coffee half-off!"

"I'm not allowed to drink coffee. My parents say too much exposure to caffeine at a young age turns you into a rapist."

"AAAAGGHHH! Oh God I'm in trouble aren't I?!"

"Now calm down Tweek you can't believe everything adults say. Aw gee you un-buttoned some of your shirt. Let me help you." Butters leaned over and quickly straightened the buttons on Tweek's shirt. When he was done he couldn't help but notice how innocent and worried the look in Tweek's eyes was. Those pale blue orbs almost put Butters at peace. He felt a smile creep across his lips. "Hey, just keep thinking about how delicious those drinks at Harbucks are and we'll get through this. Trust me."

"Eehhnn...o-okay." Tweek actually smiled then, slightly relaxed by the sweet and calm tone Butters used.

-----

"So how have your classes gone so far today?" Kyle asked setting his lunch down next to Stan.

"Oh there you are Kyle! I couldn't find shit with all of these students rushing to the lunch room. I think they need to give us more than 30 minutes to grab and eat lunch, 10 have passed already. School's been easy so far man. Did you see we can sign up for track next week?"

"Yeah I heard. Hey is that Clyde over in the pizza line?" Both boys looked over and saw one of their acquaintances from South Park, Clyde Donnovan. He looked slightly uncomfortable standing in line. It was clear he didn't know anybody nearby.

"Man there really aren't many guys I recognize around here." Stan's train of thought was cut off when he spotted Wendy Testaburger sitting half-way across from them in the cafeteria, chatting animatedly with several girls and a few guys. The boyfriends of some of them. Even though Stan had been doing a great job of mostly ignoring Wendy, he couldn't help but notice how attractive she looked. It was clear she worked pretty hard to doll herself up for the first day of school. Her black hair was about as silky as humanly possible, reflecting a huge portion of the long cafeteria ceiling lights overhead. her lips were a perfect subtle shine of red and she had a little bit of eye-shadow on to accentuate her dark eyes. Her tight shirt barely went far enough down to cover her stomach, and her vibrant blue jeans were rather tight, showing off her curvy legs and perky ass. An athletic guy had his left arm drapped over her shoulders. Jason Roberts was his name and they'd been a bit of an item since 9th grade. He was one of the oldest in his class and he looked it. He could grow a fairly reasonable goatee and he'd always show it off by jutting out his lower jaw slightly when he'd joke around with some of his buddies...and of course Wendy. Kyle followed Stan's sullen gaze and then quickly jerked his head back.

"Come on Stan just ignore them."

"Yeah I know."

As always, Kyle could tell that Stan was a bit peeved at the whole thing. Stan could never figure out what Wendy really wanted and their relationship didn't last past elementary school. "Hey you know what we should do today?" Kyle said brightly, "we should have a sleep-over to celebrate our first day of school. Doesn't look like we'll have any homework so our parents shouldn't mind."

"Yeah okay." Stan agreed, lightening up a little. "Who's house should we have it at?"

"I bet we'll be able to have it at my house. Just make sure to bring an extra pair of clothes for school."

"Should we invite Kenny?"

"Yeah if he doesn't have work. Where is he anyways?"

"He might have second lunch. We'll just have to ask him in health class."

"I hope fat-ass doesn't have this lunch."

He didn't. He was struggling with his stomach during his fifth period basic math class. "I bet this shitty lunch schedule is the Jew's fault." He muttered under his breath.

-----

"So Kenny what lunch do you have?" Stan inquired once he, Kyle, and Kenny were settled in health class.

"I have second lunch."

"Does Cart-of-Ass have that lunch too?" Kyle needed to know.

Kenny got a surprisingly large smile on his face then. "Oh yeah. In fact he was so starving, starving being a HIGHLY objective word here, that he bolted as soon as he could after fifth period and he bowled over a few seniors getting to the cafeteria. Heh heh. Last I saw he was being led to the nurse's office with a bloody nose and a black eye."

"No shit?!" Kyle exclaimed laughing out loud a little.

"Geez, never knew food to get to him that much." Stan said staring off blanky.

They saw the teacher come in then, but she went to her desk and was organizing large stacks of papers. She looked to be in her late thirties, hair curly and dusty blonde. It didn't go past her neck and didn't move much when she moved around. She was slim and wore tight jeans and a nice shirt with three buttons near the neck and chest.

Kyle turned to Kenny quickly. "Dude real quick, do you want to have a sleep-over at my house tonight?"

"Yeah sure. I won't have to go back to work until next week. What time should I come over?"

"7:00"

"I met a sexy little hispanic chica earlier today." Kenny crooned taking a hidden stab at the fact that Kyle was in a Spanish class. "You won't mind if we do a little tussling tonight, right? You shouldn't lose that much sleep. I know how to satisfy them fast if needed."

Kyle could only curl his lip a little at this.

"So how much are you payin' her?" Stan said with slight amusement.

Kenny puts on an "I'm impressed" look with his eyebrows. But then quickly countered: "Trust me, she's paying me." Kenny let out a few fake, albeit genuily joyful, laughs. "I'll see you guys tonight."

-----

Cartman was fuming the rest of the school day after getting punched by those seniors he knocked over. First day of school, and he looks like a pussy, having to get dragged away to the nurses office. He tried to act tough by not using the ice pack that he was given but the pain and swelling from his black eye was enough to make him use it. Even worse those damn seniors didn't get punished at all; no one ratted them out. Cartman had a huge desire to, but he knew it'd be a huge mistake to whine to the adults of the school about that. He had to suck it up. And he knew he'd do whatever it took to get back at them.

-----

"Have a good day, Tweek!" Butters called to Tweek after they parted ways at the bus stop that was closest to their homes.

"I-I'll try." Tweek called back.

Most of the kids got off at this particular stop, it was just oustide the residential area of town, and was where most of the kids gathered for the long ride to school.

Butters was a little confused with himself. He had genuinely tried, and from what he could tell so far suceeded, at being a strong person for someone else. He remembered how he told Tweek to trust him and how they'd get through school today. Why had he said that? He'd never felt so confident before. Maybe he had when he was younger but all the other kids insulting him and tearing him down had a subconcious affect on him that he hadn't noticed. He just knew he was unsure of himself. He only wanted to get through the day without making any waves. He remembered the look in Tweek's eyes. Butters saw himself somewhat reflected in the nervous boy. Unsure, worried...but to a more helpless extent. How else could Butters react but to reach out to him? Tweek needed it, and Butters was more than happy to oblige. He himself felt stronger and he felt happy at the feeling of helping someone.

His mother met him as he came through the door. "Hi mom!"

"Butters! What happened to your face?! Were you beat up at school? Who did this!? What happened?"

"Whaddya mean, mom? Nothing happened. This is just my face." The gentle, golden haired boy had every right to be insulted at this point...but those types of thoughts never entered his mind. He just figured his mother was seeing things.

"Young man, you need to stand up for yourself. Now what happened?"

"N-nothing happened Ma. I just went to my classes and got a few school books. I don't even have homework!"

"I do not appreciate being lied to Butters. You can't just ignore your problems, Now go to your room until you decide to handle things like a man."

"Uh...y-yes...mom." With that, Butters went up to his room, his thoughts of Tweek banished for the moment.

-----

Boy did Tweek need some coffee. He headed to the Harbuck's his father worked at as fast as he could bare. Having a fear of some renegade fugitive in a car running over him kept him going at a moderate pace. He barged into the shop making the little bell jingle violently. His father had been prepared for Tweek to be a wreck after witnessing his freak out in the morning.

"All right son just calm down while I make you something fresh and strong."

Tweek sat down at one of the tables closest to the counter. Making very audible shrieks and moans. The few patrons that were there decided to take their coffee outside, not liking to look at the possible effects of the drink reflected in Tweek.

His father sat down across from him after giving him a delicious brew of coffee and ventured the dreaded question: "How was school today?"

As wrecked as his mind was at the time, Tweek didn't feel the need to yell "AWFUL!" immediately. After taking a huge gulp of the coffee he reflected on his day. He and Butters had four class periods together, including lunch. He recalled Butters being so calm and nice and even other times concerned. Doing his best to dispel Tweek's beliefs about vicious government agents or nuclear trucks in every town. Usually people trying to talk sense to Tweek didn't calm him down much, but just the way Butters voice sounded so genuine actually helped Tweek relax some. Thinking about these things helped Tweek to reply with. "It was (GAH!) alright."

His father was surprised. "Alright?" Needlessly quoting the boy. "Well that's great son. Run along home then, and try not to finish the coffee too fast. It needs to last you until you get home at least."

This thought hadn't crossed Tweek's mind until his father brought it up. "Oh no! What if I spill it?! I'm going to spill it now! Damnit!"

Grabbing the cup quickly his father sped to fill it back up. He handed it back and said, "Don't worry, you won't spill it, this stuff is too delicious to let that happen. On your way back home just picture the Plains of Tranquility." This was an area in Tweek's mind he created himself. It was near impossible for Tweek to dwell there but when he did it helped immensely.

"Errkk! O-okay." Tweek walked home then worrying about his coffee and hoping that he could handle school tomorrow.

-----

"There you are Kyle! Come sit down and tell me about your first day of school!" Kyle was greeted by his mother at the door.

"Hi Mom." Kyle greeted her with a grin. "There's nothing big to tell really. Our first day was pretty easy. We just learned what we're going to learn in our classes basically."

"How about your college course?"

"I actually have some assigned reading in it. I'll take care of it in a little bit here, I just want to cool down for a bit first."

"I hope you do, bubbi. You've been doing so well in school so far and I'd hate to see you start slacking off. This is high school now and it really counts towards your future in college and in life."

"I am taking it seriously, don't worry." Kyle had heard all of this before, but he wasn't going to get upset. His mother was thinner these days after her series of treatments, and she was touched when Kyle would visit her in the hospital often, looking so worried. Over the last 6 months his mother had become a bit milder, and after seeing her son be successful in school she generally gave him more leeway in his life. Kyle had grown closer to his mother because of this. She wasn't nearly as stifling, which helped show Kyle her motherly love and concern for him.

"Hey, I was hoping the guys could come over for a sleep-over tonight, you know, to celebrate the new school year."

Sheila reflected on this, hoping this wasn't some precursor to a bunch of goofing off during the school year. But then again Kyle had proven he was ambitious in his studies, even when he'd spent a lot of time with his friends. "Very well Kyle. Just get your reading done first please."

"I will!" Kyle rushed upstairs to call his friends.

-----

Kyle, Stan, and Kenny were all upstairs in Kyle's room. Stan noticed his AP Euro book open on his desk. "Dude, you're already reading your textbooks?!"

"Just that one. There's a lotta crap to read in there so the teacher told us to get started."

"That really sucks ass Kyle." Kenny cut in. "You should've just taken some normal classes. Who gives a shit about these advanced ones?"

Kyle shook his head and sighed. "You're right, these advanced classes are going to suck. But it WILL be worth it once I start college. So don't worry about it. Come on, I need to regain my title back from you in Halo."

Kenny had a natural knack for first-person shooters, and got great pleasure from killing his friends and being the best in it. He thought that maybe he'd be part of S.W.A.T.

"Hey wait Kenny, where's your hot lady-friend you're supposed to bring over?" Stan smugly inquired.

"Spending an hour with me was just a bit too much for her you curious young rip." Because Stan and Kyle had no concrete experience with girls, Kenny loved to treat them like kids. "She needed a few days to cool off. Now turn that damn thing on so I can kick your ass."

Stan and Kyle could only be amused at Kenny's little stories. They proceeded to make a bit of a ruckus while playing Halo, until later that night when Sheila, as mildly as she could manage, told them it was time to go to sleep.

Kenny again emerged as the victor. "This isn't over Kenny, I will own your ass soon."

"Just because you can't get a beautiful woman's ass for yourself doesn't mean you can covet mine."

"Damnit, just go to bed." Kyle felt even more defeated then.

After the lights were out, Stan, remembering the hard time Kyle had when his mother was sick, quietly asked: "How is your mother by the way?"

"She's doing fine." Kyle sounded nonchalant when he said this, but he was happy his best friend had asked this, showing some care for him. Kyle couldn't stop a huge smile spreading over his face in the dark. Such a girly smile he'd never want Stan to see.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Again, reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

-----

_"Kyle? Is it okay if I come in?" Stan inched the door to Kyle's room slightly so he woudn't seem intrusive. Stan's chest was pounding at the answer, he'd never seen Kyle like this before._

_"..."_

_"Kyle??" Stan could barely manage to squeak out Kyle's name then._

_(Sniff) "Sure." The voice Stan heard was so heart-breakingly weak. Like a young child who just had his favorite pet taken away._

_Stan quickly came in and sat down next to the sullen boy. Kyle had tears glistening at the front of his eyes as he sat there staring down at the carpet. Stan felt his voice catch in his throat as he tried to talk. "What should I say?" He thought. He wondered if he should ask how Kyle's mother was doing, or if he should change the subject altogether. He decided that Kyle would see through such a stupid trick so he went ahead and asked, with great care and concern in his voice, "So what have you heard?"_

_Kyle took in a sharp, broken breath then, causing one of his unshed tears to plummet to the ground below. Kyle then took several deep breaths to calm himself so he could speak. Every moment caused Stan's chest to constrict, while he feared the worst._

_"My dad said there's a slim chance she'll live. They're going to try some treatments, but they said to not expect anything. HOW THE FUCK CAN THEY SAY THAT?!" _

_Stan nearly jumped off the bed at this outburst, causing his heart to almost explode right out of his chest to get away from this crushing fear he was feeling. This was horrible, what if Kyle's mom died? What then? He'd get over it right? Stan's mind raced frantically at what to do next. Kyle looked so small and lonely sitting there on the bed. Instinctively, Stan put his arm around Kyle and pulled him in close. He didn't know why, but doing this helped Stan relax. He took a quiet, deep breath, and said, "Come on Kyle, just be strong, please? Your family needs you, and I'm sure your mom doesn't want you to worry about her. She loves you, and nothing is going to change that. If she doesn't make it, you'll have your family...and you'll have me. No matter what." Even Stan was surprised at how much calmer he sounded. After speaking those words, Stan felt a little weird about it...like it wasn't really him speaking them. It was almost as if they'd been spoken **through **him by someone else, but he also believed and meant every word._

_Kyle's breathing became relaxed. He then pressed harder into Stan's body and wrapped his arms tightly around Stan's waist. In a weeping sob, he said, "Thank you...thank you so much."_

_Stan's heart lifted at this as he wrapped his other arm around the crying boy and hugged him just as hard. As happy as Stan felt, he couldn't help feeling a little queasy, as if he was sitting there holding a loved one. Kyle was so frail at the time, and hugging him then seemed so right. He was soft, yet wonderfully small and firm, and Stan had butterflies in his stomach. Stan fought these thoughts and, to relax himself, he just thought: "This is just a serious-situation friend hug, and Kyle needs it right now." In spite of these thoughts...he never wanted it to end._

-----

Kyle woke up shortly before the alarm was set to go off thinking about that day. If Stan hadn't of been there, how much harder would that time have been? Almost every day Stan would come over and give Kyle one of those winning smiles and make him feel like a million dollars. Just the way Stan would hold his hand when more news about his mother would come and Kyle would start to sweat. The feeling of Stan's firm and caring grip never left Kyle. He could tell during those few weeks just how much Stan cared for him, and that meant the whole world to Kyle to be treated in such a way. Kyle's heart started beating faster as he thought of this. He told himself to calm down. Kyle refused to think about any possible deeper inclinations these feelings had. Being a guy, he squashed anything of the sort into the hidden recesses of his brain. He then thought of Kenny. He was in the middle of training for his new job and only stopped by maybe three times, just giving his best wishes. Kenny was nice and all...but really Stan had truly saved the day back then. Stan was just wonderful. "_As a friend!" _Kyle quickly thought. Then to clear his mind of Stan, Kyle remembered Cartman...oh that fucking SHIT! When all of that was going on, Cartman had the balls to say "Looks like God has finally gotten off his ass and is trying to clean up some of the trash in this town." The next thing Kyle knew was he felt an enormous surge of uncontrollable hate, not to mention strength, and pounded at Cartman's doughy head until Stan pulled him off.

"Cartman just get the fuck out of here!" Stan yelled.

Through sobbing and tears Cartman yelled before dashing out of the house, "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU LIKE THE RAT YOU ARE!! WAAAGGHHH!!!"

It took Cartman a while before he got up the nerve to insult Kyle again, and he always made sure not to mention his mom.

The alarm went off then, as did the protests of three teenage boys.

"Damnit Kyle can't you have that piece of shit play music instead of just blaring that foghorn noise?!" Kenny shouted through his yawning.

"Sorry, it's not a clock radio." Kyle grinned sleepily.

"Ugh, son of a bitch."

They got up at a little before six so they all had time to shower and get ready. "Stan, you could have saved me a little more hot water." Kenny said shivering with a towel around his waist.

"I'll try harder next time." Stan replied, laughing.

"Bastard."

Breakfast consisted of orange juice and pancakes with syrup that Stan and Kenny had never even heard of before

"How did you boys sleep last night?" Sheila asked after sitting down.

"Just fine, mom. You know you didn't need to wake up with us just to make us breakfast, we could have handled it ourselves."

"Nonsense, I need to help you boys have a fresh start on the day. After all you're in high school now." Kenny chuckled silently at this obvious statement.

Kyle gave his mother a half-grin. "Yeah we know. Anyways, thanks for breakfast."

"Did you boys gather up all your stuff and clean up the room?"

"Yes, Mrs. Broflovski." Both Stan and Kyle said wearily.

"Good, now hurry up and eat so you can catch the bus."

Stan had a hard time with the pancakes, the syrup on them was a little bitter. Kenny was stoked because these pancakes were made to actual scale, and didn't give a shit about how the syrup tasted.

Afterwards they walked to the bus stop, while Stan and Kyle heard Kenny's musings. "Wonder if I should go for two...maybe three woman today? Hell, I turn their engines on so easily that they're done before I barely get warmed up. Life's hard sometimes."

"I bet it is, Kenny." Kyle said, dripping with false empathy.

"Maybe you should just move onto animals. I bet you wouldn't even notice the difference." Stan quipped.

"Why, are you willing to offer some advice based on personal experience in the whole matter?" Kenny shot back.

Stan held his hands in front of him with his palms facing outward as if protecting himself, "Hey, I'm just trying to help, dude. Just saying you might need to broaden your horizons."

Kenny shot back with false rage: "I'll broaden your horizons!"

Stan scrunched his eyes and nose in curious disgust, "Exactly what are you suggesting, you sick fuck?!"

"Yeah you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Kenny said with a mischievious grin.

"Alright guys stop!" Kyle interjected, worried about where this was going.

"Getting too turned on?" Kenny asked.

"I think _you're_ the only one getting turned on by all of this!"

"Whatever. I'm going to be generous. I'll just walk ahead and let you guys check out my ass." Kenny pushed ahead of Kyle and Stan, strutting ridiculously so his butt-cheeks were going in a circular motion. Kyle and Stan had no trouble keeping their eyes up.

When they saw Cartman at the bus stop they noticed his black eye and grinned evily as they recalled what had happened the day before.

Kyle had to get the first words in. "Awww...Cartman, what's up with the black eye?" His voice was laced with joy.

Cartman put up a tough front, obviously reciting some memorized lines to explain his injury. "Well Jew-face, someone insulted my honor yesterday and I beat the shit out of them. Sure...he got a lucky punch off but that's only because I took my sweet time in whipping his ass." He said smugly.

"Oh I've heard how those freshman girls are just _ruthless_. I'm glad you got to put one in her place." Kenny chided.

"Fuck off." Cartman spat.

Kenny couldn't help himself. "Just try not to act like a pig dashing for the trough next time lunch rolls around!" Kenny sputtered the last few words, barely managing to get them out, his face was practically wrenched in agony at his own attempts to stop laughing uproariously.

Cartman shot them a shocked, red-faced glare. He recovered as fast as he could and looked away muttering, "I don't know what you're talking about."

They continued to mock him while many of the other kids from South Park showed up at the stop, asking what the joke was all about. Cartman huffily yelled, "Nothing!" at everyone, shooting venomous glances at Kenny, Kyle, and Stan. Cartman was relieved when the bus finally arrived. As Cartman climbed up the stairs in defeat, Kyle almost felt bad for him. Almost.

-----

Butters had been gloomy the previous day. He had hoped high school would have changed things, but his parents were acting the same as always, treating him like a little boy and never trusting him. He had only been allowed out of his room for an hour to eat dinner with his parents. They still asked him if something happened to him at school, no matter how much he insisted everything was fine. They made him so upset some times, why wouldn't they believe him? Butters wasn't a liar. Then he saw Tweek sitting alone in one of the bus seats. As he looked at Tweek, and Tweek noticed him back, giving him a slim smile, his thoughts of his parents vanished. He wondered how Tweek was doing. He sat next to Tweek and gently asked: "How are you doing today, Tweek?"

Tweek was a still a bit hyped up from the coffee he'd had earlier that morning, and was startled to hear someone's voice. "AH!"

"Oh Jesus! I'm sorry Tweek! I-I didn't mean to scare you like that..." Butters nervously locked his fingers together and looked down at them.

Tweek's grin got bigger as he looked at Butters. It was almost as if Butters was as nervous as he was. "It's alright Butters, you didn't really scare me."

Butters stopped fideting and looked at Tweek, who's eyes almost sparkled back at him, putting Butters at peace. "Th-thats good."

Tweek's twitching calmed dramatically...until the bus started going faster. Butters did what he could to calm Tweek down as he whined "AGH! Don't go so fast! You'll get us all killed!"

"No shouting on the bus!" Was all the driver would yell back.

-----

Tweek got into an even worse state in English class when they were given their first reading assignment. As the teacher started handing out the books, Tweek quietly squealed, "Lord of the Flies?! I hate flies! They're the leading cause of disease in America! Why would I want to read a book about them?! Shit this is crazy!"

Butters was both annoyed and aprehensive at the few stares Tweek was recieving. He was worried that they'd say something, upsetting the boy further. "_Why don't they just mind their own business? Tweek's just trying to adjust."_ he thought. He then turned to Tweek, "Do you know what I do to flies? I squirt them with glass cleaner, I feel like Clint Eastwood when I do it. They drop easily, you don't have to be scared of them." The teacher then brought them their books.

"Agh! How am I gonna read all of this?! I'm going to fail this class! I _know _it!"

Before Tweek could start chewing his fingers again, Butters cut in, "How about we study together after school? We could help each other."

"Enngh! Too much pressure! I don't think so...I couldn't stand to have someone rely on me for help!"

Butters couldn't stop himself from developing a crestfallen face. He then tried to act as if it didn't bother him, "Oh, i-if you don't want to that's okay." Butters was desperate for a friend. He'd remember seeing Stan and Kyle on the bus to school and how they interacted. So natural, like they were kindred spirits. No...not like, they _were_ kindred spirits. Butters would often get pangs of jealousy watching them together. If anything, he hoped that they at least knew how lucky they were to have each other.

Tweek tore himself away from the small lecture the teacher was giving on the significance of their new book. He saw the look on Butters face and, to his surprise, felt a little happy that Butters seemed so upset. Did it mean something? Tweek wasn't exactly popular...and to have someone show this kind of interest in him was strange, yet satisfying. Like taking a bite of some unknown, yet delicious food. Tweek forgot about his fears for a moment and touched Butter's shoulder. "I was being stupid, I could use some help in school. Let's do it." The smile on Butters face was worth ten cups of coffee. So Butters really was serious about hanging out with him. Tweek felt like he might be special...a warm feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

-----

"Yeah I knew it wasn't going to last. Assignments, new information, homework...you'd think the teachers are being starved of oxygen when they're not cramming this shit down our throats." Stan motioned to all the weight that had been accumulated in his backpack due to school.

Kyle looked up from his food with a smirk on his face. "Come on, is it really that bad?"

"It is if I say it is!"

Kyle laughed at how serious Stan sounded when he said this. He wondered how easy a class would be if Stan taught it. "You know it's the only way you'll learn anything right?"

"What, have you been reading the 'Teacher's Guide of Bullshit Reasoning'? I'm not going to need all of this useless information when I'm older!"

"You might eat those words someday." Kyle said quietly, going back to his meal, and thinking of the humor of the statement due to the fact that he _was_ eating at the time. Stan had never been much of a school guy over the last few years. He'd gotten more and more fed up with all of the different classes being packed into one day, and all the homework that came along with it. In a way Kyle loved seeing Stan act like this. He seemed so young at heart; just a kid being robbed of his play time, and it brought Kyle back to when they were younger, and school didn't get in the way of their friendship as much.

As Stan sat there with his chin resting in his palm, sighing and slowly shaking his head, they heard someone say, "Hey guys." It was Clyde.

"Oh, hey Clyde." Stan and Kyle looked over at him standing next to the table. "Why don't you take a seat?" Stan offered, motioning to the spot on the lunch-bench next to him.

"Al-alright, thanks, it's amazing to actually see someone here I recognize." Clyde sat down with a his lips pursed in what _could_ be considered somewhat of a grin. It was clear to Kyle that he was as excited about school as Stan was. They started talking about their classes, teachers, but then both Stan and Clyde really brightened up when they started nearly spazzing out about a new game that was coming out soon, Fallout 3. Kyle enjoyed seeing Stan being so energetic for a change, it was as if Stan's energy radiated out of him and was a blessing to anyone nearby. Kyle would be the only one to focus on the way Stan would wave his arms around in adorable ways, drawing out explosions with his hands.

"The rockets they have are huge!"

"Did you see the ghouls and stuff that are going to be in there?"

"I wonder how many different guns there are?"

Kyle also admired Stan for his natural charisma, if he wanted to, he could hit it off with just about anybody. Hell, even Cartman if he deserved it. To Kyle, Stan was always a beacon of balance in his life, whenever Kyle's parents would start to get out of control, he couldn't wait to be with Stan again. _"He's everything that's right in America." _Kyle thought. Then is eyes grew wide. _"What the fuck does that mean?!"_ He rubbed a hand across his forehead and glanced back at Stan, still chatting animatedly. He thanked Moses that Stan hadn't been looking at him at that point, his face was red, which would high-light his freckles, and he was sweating. _"Alright, just relax. I meant that America is a great place and it turns out normal people." _No...that doesn't do enough justice for Stan. Kyle flushed again. _"Damnit just stop!" _He then noticed how Stan's hair was covering his left eye, like he was hiding playfully. Kyle forgot about his thoughts and just consented to watch his dark-haired friend, smiling and every so often sweeping a hand across his hair to put it back into place. On other guys it would seem preppy...but Stan did it so fluently, and his fingers worked with such grace.

The bell rang signaling that 5th period started in five minutes. Kyle jumped up, tripping over his words, "Whoa, better head to class, later guys!" Kyle hastily grabbed his backpack and flung it over his shoulder, whipped around and walked away quickly.

Clyde was baffled, "What the hell? Does he enjoy school that much? What a nerd!"

Stan glowered at Clyde, "Dude that's not even funny. Just shut up."

Clyde couldn't help but cower under Stan's gaze, "Sorry, shit, forget I said anything." He promptly got up and left.

"If only things were as easy for me as they are for Kyle around here..." Stan thought out loud. Because of Clyde's comment, Stan didn't think about how odd Kyle's abrupt departure was until later. He hoped that Kyle wasn't sick or something.

-----

As Cartman was sitting in the lunch room, he scoured the cafeteria with his eyes; searching for the seniors he'd bumped into the day before. _"I know those assholes are around here somewhere." _Once he spotted them, a smile of victory was plastered over his face. The two of them were doing some sort of mid-air arm wrestle match, showing off to the girls behind them. _"Yes...enjoy those arms while you can...before I snap them off!"_ Cartman had no solid plan to pay them back yet, but he was relishing every thought he had about punishing them; creating vivid pictures in his mind that consisted of them kneeling on the ground and weeping in despair, along with him standing over them like an executioner.

Cartman's thoughts were scattered when Kenny walked up and said, "Looks like you behaved yourself at lunch today, piglet."

Cartman groaned at Kenny's insult and fired back, "Who did you steal that lunch from?" Pointing at the tray of food Kenny was holding.

"I probably should have stolen it from you, cow ass. Why do you have two lunches?"

Cartman put on a determined expression and replied, "The food portions here are bullshit. I haven't come all this way to starve myself and turn into a little wiry pussy like you."

"I don't think all the diet pills in the world could make you 'wiry.' Just make sure to chew your food so you don't choke. I think it'd be funny as hell, but it might be a bit too traumatic for the other people here."

"At least I have the opportunity to choke on success!"

Kenny just shrugged and walked off. Cartman felt like he'd won a victory, until he saw Kenny sitting at a table with a bunch of sophmore girls, who immediately became interested in his company. "_How does that little scrotum-licker pull it off?"_

Before long, Cartman's revenge starved brain brought him back to focus on those seniors and he went back to daydreaming with great alacrity.

-----

After confirming the time they'd start their study session for the day, Butters rushed home from the bus stop after it dropped him off to tell his parents. "Hey Mom, Dad! I want to tell ya somethin'!" Butters chipperly announced before even closing the door behind him.

"Well what is it, Butters? Are you going to finally tell us what happened to you at school yesterday?" His mom responded looking hopeful.

"Nevermind that mom, I invited another boy from school to come over so we can study and help each other out! Isn't that great?"

His mother forgot about her previous accusations as this new information hit her. "Someone's coming over? You mean to tell us you have a friend?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well sure...I mean, why wouldn't I?" Butters answered nervously, wondering if there was something the matter.

His father appeared out of the kitchen, wearing a very matter-of-fact face. "Friends are a good thing, Butters. But make sure you are responsible for your studies, and for theirs. I'll not abide you messing up someone else's education. You're still young Butters, I hope you realize that."

"Sure I do, and I'm going to help my new friend in his studies, you can count on me!"

It was his father's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure your new friend wouldn't be better off learning at home, or with other children? This is a lot of responsibility, and I'm not sure you can handle it."

At this point Butters was a little perturbed. "N-now see here Mom and Dad, Tweek needs my help, and by golly I won't let him down. "

The adults' eyes went wide with shock. "Wait a minute Butters! _Tweek_ is your new friend?! Oh this is worse than I thought...Butters go up to your room right now."

"W-what's the matter?!"

"Not now Butters! Let us take care of this!"

"Listen to your father, Butters."

"Take care of what? What's wrong?"

Butter's father let out a sigh and took sat on the couch. "Have a seat, son."

Butters did so solemnly. "D-do you not want me to have any friends?" His bottom lip quivering as he uttered this, so scared that he'd be all alone again.

"No of course not son. You see...Tweek is a troubled young man. You won't be able to help him, he needs professionals for that. Trust me Butters, it'd be too hard on both of you to be friends. Now, I hope for Tweek's sake that he can live a normal life, but it's beyond your power to help him with that. Do you understand?" He placed a comforting hand on Butters' shoulder.

Butters was crushed. He felt the sting in his eyes as tears slowly crawled up his ducts and started to pool around his eyes. What could he say? These were his parents and they'd done so much for him. Butters tried to be strong...but it just didn't work, and now he was defeated. "Y-yes...Dad." Butters stood up shakily. A sob escaped his throat and he ran upstairs into his room.

Mr. Stotch let out another sigh. "I'd better call Tweek's father to let him know the situation. Butters is becoming such a hard-headed child. I wonder how long we'll be able to still help him."

"Oh honey, Butters is a good boy. We all make mistakes sometimes. That's why he has us to guide him along the way."

"You're right of course, darling. I guess sometimes...I just wish he could be a young boy again. It's hard to deal with children growing up and growing apart from you. Well, I'd better give the Tweaks a call."

He walked into the kitchen and found their number. As the phone rang, he took a deep breath, hoping that Tweek's parents wouldn't be too upset.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Tweak?"

"Yes, this is he."

"Ah, good to speak with you, this is Mr. Stotch. I don't know if your son has told you, but our son, Butters, asked your son to come over so they could study and-"

"Oh, you're Butters parents? Well what a coincidence! I was going to give you a call soon! Yes, my son told me about going over to your house and I think it's wonderful! I've never seen my son so excited for anything! It's a miracle that he's even willing to leave the house! Was this your idea? Sir, the next time we see each other I'd like to take you out for a drink! As you can imagine, my son's been having a hard time in school in general and having someone to help him out could be the very thing he needs. What would be a good time for him to go over?"

Mr. Stotch was at a loss for words.

"Are you there?"

After giving a slight cough he replied, "Y-yes...so you think this is a good idea?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"It just seems like this could be a lot of responsibility for our boys..."

"Responsibility? No, if anything they could learn from teamwork. Like a brother ready to pull you over the next cliff of the mountain of life!"

"The what?"

"So what time can Tweek come over?"

Mr. Stotch's mouth was still hanging open, causing his throat to be dry. "U-uh...five?" He croaked out.

"Wonderful, I can't thank you enough for giving my son this opportunity, Mr. Stotch, have a great day!"

"Th...thank you."

-----

Butters lay sobbing on his bed, his face buried in his pillow and his arms tucked underneath it. "(Sniff) Why don't my p-parents trust me?" He shouted, muffling the words into his pillow. "If only they'd give me a chance..." Butters ground his face into the pillow, trying to drive away the hurt and dissapointment. He stopped suddenly, and remembered he still had school tomorrow. He could see Tweek then! Maybe they could study at school during lunch or something. He just hoped that Tweek would understand that the reason wasn't that Butters didn't want him over. He bit his lip, wondering what he should say.

"Son?" His father pushed the door open and looked inside, seeing the blonde boy's hair in disarray and face red and glistening with moisture from the tears that had been shed on the pillow. Upon seeing this, he was actually glad to give Butters the good news.

"P-please just go away, Dad." Butters said gloomily, burying his face back into his pillow.

"I will, Butters, but first I just came to say that Tweek will be over at five, so you'd better get cleaned up and be ready to help him study."

Butters jerked his face off of the pillow. his eyes wide with anticipation. "Y-you mean it?!"

"Of course I do. Tweek's father was more than happy at your offer to help him, and I'd be a fool to continue thinking you can't handle it. I was just worried about you, I hope you understand that."

Butters lept off the bed and hugged his father. "Thank you so much, Dad! You're the best parents in the whole world!"

Mr. Stotch chuckled. "Alright you little scamp; you behave yourself today, understood?"

"You betcha!" Butters hopped up and down with excitement, his mind going a mile a minute with what he and Tweek were going to do and how he'd help him.

-----

When Tweek arrived, Butters could tell he was a bit nervous because he had a Big Gulp full of coffee in his hand, smiling goofily and stammering greetings. Butters promptly grabbed Tweek's free hand and practically drug him upstairs, excited to show Tweek his belongings and tell him of his study plans. Butters never had so much fun teaching someone else. He laughed as Tweek's gaze would wander, and admired his unique penmanship. Butters couldn't remember a time he'd been happier, it seemed like the first time he went to Bennigan's all over again, except this time, he was in charge. What would really make Butter's heart flutter with joy was when Tweek portrayed one of his rare smiles, setting his blue-grey eyes aglow. It always made Butters feel like he was flying, like he was staring into the horizon; one that pulled him in. It was a great day.


	4. Chapter 4

-----

Kyle had a foggy dream that night. Well...all of the details were foggy except one in particular. Kyle remembered standing in front of Stan while Stan stared at him intently with a warm smile on his face. His dark hair was gently draped over his forehead, giving him a sexy look. Stan reached out and delicately brushed away some hair that had fallen over Kyle's eyes, gently tucking it behind his ear. Kyle felt elated at feeling Stan's warm touch and the care he put into such a small gesture, but the best part? Kyle didn't have to hide his joy, in the dream Kyle knew that Stan would accept his feelings. "I love your hair, it looks like a billowing ocean on a summer's eve, don't ever change it..."

This was the last thing Kyle remembered before he woke up. His heart was beating rapidly in endless cascades inside his chest. "Holy shit..." he mumbled. He looked over at his digital clock. It was 15 minutes before he'd have to wake up and get ready for school. "Again?! Damn it what is Stan doing to me?"

Because he had left the lunchroom so quickly, Stan questioned him during health class. "Why did you leave lunch so fast? Were you sick?"

"What? Oh...no my next class was AP Euro so I needed to get to class as soon as I could to finish up some details on my homework." Kyle lied. _"Wow...so I'm lying to Stan now?"_ Kyle felt like he had to leave Stan so fast during lunch to clear his head. He was getting worried about himself. He felt even worse when he told Stan that because of a large homework load he probably wouldn't be able to do anything with Stan, but if he had time he would call him. Of course, Kyle didn't call. Before he went to sleep he was feeling better mentally. He hadn't thought of Stan that much.

Then he had that dream...and it got him freaked out again. _"I've got to play it cool...or he'll know something is up."_

That day on the bus, during classes, and during lunch, Kyle thought of anything else besides Stan. His teachers, other students, what he'd read in his textbooks, _girls_, and it was working. Whenever Stan talked to him he'd just look at him and grin in a way he'd usually do, but instead of looking _at _Stan he'd look a little past him. Also for the whole week, Kyle didn't hang out with Stan, telling him school was kicking his ass more and more. This would cause Stan to break out in even more rants about how much school sucked. It especially didn't help when Stan saw Wendy acting like she was the Queen of the World around her boyfriend. These were the only times Kyle gave Stan his full attention; saying whatever he needed to get Stan to forget about her.

"Sure she seems great but I've been watching her and I promise you it's only skin-deep, after she broke up with you I knew there was something up. Trust me, you dodged a bullet on that one, eventually, you'll meet someone a whole lot better." Kyle cringed at his aversion to saying "some girl", instead replacing it with "someone", but having Stan single like this made Kyle happier. He could keep his balance.

Usually after Kyle's remarks Stan would grab his hand in a way where their thumbs were touching and their fingers were resting on top of each other's hands. "You're awesome, dude. Seriously, you don't have to try and keep making me feel better, sometimes I just need to vent." Kyle always blushed a little at this, making Stan smile even more.

"I'll keep talking until you finally realize I'm right, dip-shit." Kyle would respond, chuckling.

"You'll pay for that, Broflovski." Stan would remark with a mischievous grin.

Kyle hated and adored that grin. It would make his mind wander with possibilities of what that grin meant. Then he'd be pissed at some of the scenarios that his mind would play out, like maybe having Stan do a dance for him to "torture" him.

_"Ugh I fuckin' SUCK!" _Kyle would also thank Moses and Abraham for not putting Cartman into their lunch, he knew no good would come out of that.

Clyde hadn't shown up again until a week later, finally getting up the courage to sit with Stan and Kyle again, apologizing for what he had said. Kyle was confused, but Stan just disarmed the whole thing and gave Clyde a pat on the back, accepting his apology. It made things easier for Kyle having Clyde there for lunch. Stan didn't have all of his attention on Kyle so it was easier for him to turn his attention elsewhere without being noticed.

That week Stan and Kyle had been able to sign up for track. This also helped Kyle keep his head clear because he had to focus on his running and breathing. He also liked getting a grade while keeping a fit figure so he could impress...people. _"I'll be damned if I'm going to turn into Stan's 'fat' friend or something."_ He'd rationalize. Also partially thinking that Stan would be a little disgusted at Kyle being chunky. He could _not_ handle that.

Many of the days would be pretty cold so they'd have to wear long track pants and light jackets to keep the breeze or snow out. Kyle would generally get grumpy at this, until he realized the cold took his mind off of...other things.

Because Stan had a lot of experience with athletics before, he was usually in the top five of practice races, only getting beat out by juniors and seniors. Stan got along with the team and the coach, who Stan liked because he was a lot more laid back. He was a guy in his early thirties. Tall, slim, with dusty blond hair. His name was Mr. Gold. He usually had a smile on his face, one that showed off his white teeth. Oftentimes he'd talk about his wife and kids. He had three of them under the age of seven with another one on the way. The guys on the track team would joke behind his back about how much he must be nailing his wife, and Kyle and Stan believed it.

Kyle found it hard not to stare at Stan while he was running. The exertion helped give Stan a manly, determined look, and his running style was graceful, almost like a horse. "_Like a black stallion."_ Kyle thought. Even though Stan was popular with the team, he'd always hang around Kyle, asking him if he wanted help and how he was handling track. Kyle wasn't bad, but he sure as hell wasn't champion material either.

Kyle had finished a 400 meter dash and was limping due to his calves being so sore, Stan was supporting him and helped him walk over to the benches a little ways from the track. Again, Kyle couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to the miracle that was Stan. Sometimes Kyle didn't feel like he was worth Stan's time, especially after seeing some of the jocks on the track team. He thought what hanging out with some of these seniors would do for Stan, he could move up the social hierarchy and be nothing short of a legend. But no, here he was sitting next to a sore Kyle on the bench, giving words of encouragement. He loved how Stan would assure him that he'll be one of the best.

"You have the build for it," Referring to Kyle's long legs and slim figure, "it's just going to take practice is all to build those muscles up and strengthen your calves. Believe me, my first few months of serious football had me sore as shit. It's awesome once you get past it."

So over-all...track was a good thing, but the day came when Kyle wished he could have went back in time and torched the sign-up sheet.

-----

After not hanging out with Stan after school because of "lack of free time" for several weeks, Stan was getting more and more dejected. They didn't hang out even on weekends, Kyle made up excuses like special reports in his AP Euro class or having to do research or even chores. Stan had been hiding his annoyance for a while, but eventually he got sick of trying and let Kyle know about it.

"I'm not kidding Kyle, school fuckin' _sucks_! You having absolutely no free time like this is horse-shit! And once track starts getting more serious you'll have even less free time! You'll have _negative_ free time, Kyle!" Stan threw his arms up into the air in exasperation, then just sat there across from Kyle, fuming, pointlessly poking at his food.

"Yeah I agree, school sucks. Sucks donkey balls." Clyde responded quietly. He was a little put off because he and Stan had hung out a few times. Just a few hours playing X-box 360 or something, but this didn't seem to matter to Stan.

Kyle was genuinely touched by Stan's outburst. As much as he hated to admit it, spending so little time with Stan was the hardest thing Kyle had to do. So many times late at night, after finishing his homework, Kyle just sat in his room staring at the phone, struggling not to dial Stan's number. A part of his sanity was spinning more and more out of control. He noticed it when he couldn't sit down for 10 minutes to do his homework. Instead of spending less time with Stan making him more effective in school...it was making him less effective. The only bright side was his mother being so thrilled at his apparent energy for school-work. Her praises didn't mean all that much to him though, knowing if it was Stan, he'd only chew him out. When Kyle's focus was about to break and he'd pick up the phone to dial Stan, his thoughts would flash to him: smiling at him; staring into his eyes with a lustful look. _"If only Stan would look at me that way...SON OF A BITCH! I CAN **NOT** CALL HIM!"_ Then he'd slam the phone back down. This was the cycle Kyle was starting to get used to. Determination, weakness, fantasy, anger, paranoia...he wondered if it would ever stop.

Then he realized how selfish he was being when he saw Stan acting like that at lunch. But in the strangest way Stan's outburst made Kyle tingly all over. He quietly pleaded for Stan to continue and make Kyle feel like he was worth something. If Stan was this upset...it meant that Kyle was...important? Loved? _"Bah! Not loved you idiot! The poor guy is just bored is all." _But Kyle took a closer look. No, it wasn't boredom, it was practically misery. Kyle's heart started beating faster again. _"Is he really that sad without me? Why?" _Kyle felt terrible, and like a whiny pussy.

Seeing Stan like this made Kyle realize that he'd better do something with him after school. He was still scared of spending alone time with him, but seeing Stan so miserable was worse. He then thought of how happy Stan might become at the possibility of hanging out after school again, and this gave Kyle the courage he needed.

"Hey, because I've been so busy with school and haven't had friends over for a while, I know my mom wouldn't mind me taking a break today and doing something. She's mentioned that I should get out a little more so I don't over-work my brain. Are you busy today?"

Stan's eyes went wide with surprise. "Are you serious? Yeah I can do something after school! It's about fuckin' time!"

"Alright, I'll come over shortly after we get home from school." Kyle's heart fluttered as Stan beamed one of his winning smiles.

"Awesome! You'd better not be shitting me!" Stan's eyes darkened slightly.

"I'm totally serious!" Kyle held his hands up as if they were his proof. If Kyle had any doubts about making these plans, they were quickly dispelled due to Stan's desperation.

"Okay then." Kyle gave him his first real smile in weeks.

-----

When Kyle came over Stan gave him a quick hug. "You didn't even bring any school-work! I'm proud of you!"

For the most part Kyle was hoping they'd play something on Stan's Game-cube so he could keep his mind relatively blank. But instead, Stan had him sit on the couch in his living room so they could "catch up." Kyle was a bit confused by this until he realized that they don't talk about anything outside of school while in school, and not much even then. They only got to hang out for 15 minutes or so during lunch because of the lines. Kyle did his best to explain what he'd been learning during his AP European class without boring Stan too much. Stan talked a little about Clyde passively, and Kyle, knowing Stan could have had the opportunity to get another good friend, maybe even best friend, and not even acting like he was interested caused Kyle's pulse to increase. Staring into Stan's radiant blue eyes as he talked excitedly about how awesome they were going to be in track, always including Kyle in his descriptions, made Kyle's face flush. He wasn't sure if Stan noticed this, but he thought he might have when he saw the grin erupt on Stan's face, causing small dimples near his lips that Kyle had never noticed before.

"What?" Kyle ventured, a little worried at the response.

"It just seems like you're a little embarrassed about track. Don't be. Stick with me and you'll be awesome."

_"Oh thank Moses..."_ Kyle was immensely relieved that Stan thought this; while at the same time pleaded in his head that he really meant it and wasn't harboring other thoughts.

"Kyle? It's good to finally see you again! Stanley here has been sulking for days, mumbling about what school's been doing to you and what a horrible place it is. I was getting worried." Stan's mother came downstairs holding a stack of magazines.

"Mom, stop it!" Stan begged his mother.

"Oh calm down sweety. I'm just saying that screaming about the terrors of the school doesn't put my mind at ease about how well you're doing in your studies."

Stan moved his eyes to look at Kyle then without turning his head. "Well...maybe Kyle needs to come over more so he can help me if I'm having trouble. We're in the same chemistry class and he's already past my math level. He could be my tutor or something."

Kyle stopped breathing then. His mind worked frantically as he realized what could happen. Stan made a smart move in telling his mother this. Mrs. Marsh might end up calling his mom and then Mrs. Broflovski might insist on Kyle helping his friend's with their schoolwork. He could hear her saying, "You've got a gift, Kyle, and it would be a shame if you didn't share it with others." Blah blah blah.

"Would you mind, Kyle? If anybody could help Stanley I know you could, he'd listen to you." Stan's mother sounded hopeful.

Kyle was trapped. "Yeah, o-of course I'll help him." He gave her a false smile.

"Oh that would be great! I'll give your mother a call to see if she minds."

_"Yep, I knew it."_

Stan clapped a hand on Kyle's back. "Ha ha! Aren't I a genius? I'm a little surprised you didn't think of something like this sooner!"

"Sometimes the simplest answers are the hardest to find." Kyle replied absent-minded. Kyle's cycle was spinning in full gear again. _"How can things have gotten so complicated?"_

-----

Kyle was able to shake off going over to Stan's house every day. About twice a week Kyle would tell Stan that he was sorry he didn't have time at all to even help study. He'd always put the blame on his Trigonometry and AP European classes. He could tell Stan was disappointed, but he also respected Kyle's wishes enough not to push him into coming over. This knowledge alone made Kyle feel horrible, but he didn't know what else to do. _"Some friend I am. I treat Stan like shit in my thoughts and in reality."_ These sort of thoughts took their toll on Kyle's studies, he simply couldn't concentrate. He started falling below A's on his tests and quizzes. His essays lacked any real critical analysis. His mother became concerned.

"Bubbi, what's happening with your school-work?"

Normally Kyle would be a little upset with his mother taking action against such a small lapse in grades. But he knew that it was in essence his fault. "Sometimes I just can't concentrate on my work." He replied honestly.

"Would you like to see a doctor? Maybe he can prescribe you something to help."

"No!" Sheila was taken aback. "I'm sorry, I just don't think something like that will help."

_"I **know** it won't help, and pills are the last thing I need right now."_

She looked at her son appreciatively. "I know how selfless you've been with helping Stan in school..._but_ if that is what's making it harder for you to focus on your own work, then I'll call his mother and tell her that you need more private study time."

_"Right...selfless."_ Kyle saw his perfect opportunity for an out here. He knew that Stan would accept. He was so terrific that way. Thinking about Stan again and the idea of practically forcing him out of his life made his stomach lurch. _"Fuck no, I can't do that to him anymore...and I can't do that to myself."_

He realized his mother was staring at him with almost a fearful look in her eyes. He quickly answered, "No, that's okay. I can handle it. Stan makes sure I do my work before he lets me help him with his."

She smiled, "Okay Kyle, just try to work harder. Remember, your performance in high school _will_ affect you in college."

"Don't worry, I know." Kyle's cycle was firing up again, engaging his thoughts so he couldn't be annoyed at his mother's insistent remarks about the importance high school.

-----

Starting near the middle of October the track team started meeting after school more frequently. They were training for their first meet in about a month. This was helping Kyle curb his thoughts more. He was training hard...mainly to impress Stan. Then it happened, and Kyle despised track for it.

Kyle agreed to go over to Stan's house directly after their practice that day. Their track clothes were, as to be expected, a bit ripe from all the sweat. They were both in Stan's room. Kyle put his backpack down and was about to go into the bathroom to change. Kyle stretched his legs while Stan, just a few feet in front of him, took his shirt off. Kyle's eyes widened at what he saw. Staring him in the face was Stan's bare back. Kyle had never seen Stan looking like this. In gym, Kyle picked out his own corner of the locker room so he couldn't see any of the guys that well when they changed, and he made sure to avoid showering next to Stan after track practice like the plague. But this time, Stan was _right _there, and it was too late to look away.

Stan's shoulders were perfectly square and slightly broad. His skin was a little tan and incredibly smooth. The slope of his back met with his slim, fit waist. Then Stan turned around. Kyle bent down to untie his shoes while still glancing upward to stare at Stan's cut chest. He couldn't see anything out of place, his pecks and abs were perfectly symmetrical, slightly chiseled. Kyle couldn't stop himself from thinking just how sexy Stan was. He felt his face flush, which fortunately Stan couldn't notice because Kyle's face was already red from track.

"Alright I'm going to get dressed, can you step outside for a second?"

"Y-yeah, of course."

When Kyle went outside of Stan's room he put a hand on his forehead. His heart was like a jack-hammer. _"Shit shit shit, I hope he didn't notice me looking at him." _He noticed that Stan's door wasn't closed. Kyle had to fight his urge to take a peek inside. _"Damn it! This is insane! Stop it!"_

"Okay I'm done." Stan called from his room.

Kyle couldn't stop himself from feeling disappointed when he went in and saw that Stan had a new shirt on.

"Okay go ahead and change, I'll be in the bathroom for a moment to get my hair in order."

Kyle grinned weakly. "Okay, be right out." Barely managing to get the words out.

"Did track take a lot out of ya today?"

"Uh...sure feels like it. My head is swimming a little." Kyle put his hand on his forehead to accentuate this remark.

"Well I've got some Gatorade in the fridge. That might help." Stan walked out then.

Kyle stared at the wall blankly for a moment. _"Okay, Stan is attractive. Please...just leave it at that." _Kyle quickly changed into his normal clothes and went into the bathroom to splash some cool water on his face and hair, which was looking a bit matted at the time.

After having a drink and a snack, Kyle and Stan sat on the couch and watched a show on TV. It was a drama set in a hospital.

"You know working in an E.R. like that must really suck. Look at them. It's three in the morning and there's a screaming guy wheeled in there without a leg and they have to haul ass to get him fixed up. Man that's gross."

"Yeah looks like it sucks." Kyle replied absent-mindededly. To his annoyance, he still wanted Stan to take off his shirt again. Just the image of Stan's chest taunted him, daring him to touch it. _"Why am I thinking this!? Is it just puberty going ape-shit and not caring what's what as long as it sees a hot piece of ass? SHIT! Why am I also thinking Stan's ass is hot?!"_ He then remembered that he wanted to take a peek into Stan's room when he was undressed. He thought that if Stan looked that good up top, then everything else must be great as well. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey Stan I'm going to go home to take a shower."

Kyle could hear the apprehension in Stan's voice, like he was worried that Kyle wouldn't come back over that day. "Oh, really? Are you coming back at all to help me with math?" Stan wasn't doing that bad in math, but having Kyle help with it made it go a lot faster.

Stan let out a small cough, "Remember, Cartman is coming over for help with his math, too. I know that fucker doesn't deserve it but might as well help him so he's not a worthless slob the rest of his life."

Kyle smiled then. "Yeah I'll be over around seven."

"Okay man take care."

Once he was outside with the door closed, Kyle slapped himself in the face, and cursed the name of "track". _"How am I supposed to hang out with Stan now? Things have gotten worse...**much** worse!" _Kyle wracked his brains for any possible solution. As he was walking home his teeth were grinding together due to his intense concentration, making his jaw hurt. _"Damn it, think!"_ Suddenly, Kyle remembered Stan mentioning Wendy in passing the other day. Kyle had an idea he'd implement in school tomorrow.

-----

Kyle's focus on his plan helped him get through those few hours with Stan...that and Cartman. As much as he hated to admit it, Cartman helped defuse the situation. The situation in Kyle's head anyways. Cartman accused Kyle of using his Jew-gold to buy brain-altering drugs or devices to make him good at math. Because of Kyle's stress with Stan, he got a lot angrier quicker. Cartman saw it as a real hot-button and pushed the concept further until Stan threatened him with a shove out of his window, reminding him that Kyle was actually taking the time to help him.

Cartman did need help...not that he'd ever directly admit it. He'd rationalize by saying something like, "Watching you guys do your math problems will rub off on me and I'll get it no problem, I'm a genius after all."

Kyle snorted at this remark, Cartman was in a basic math class. So if he was a genius, he was _fuckin'_ lazy. _"That easily could be true."_He thought, he hadn't forgotten about some of Cartman's schemes when he was younger. Some were downright diabolical. But ever since he'd gotten a job, he'd been working less at trying to get money in other, crazy ways. His salary, along with half-price pizzas from his work, kept him pretty content.

But really, Kyle couldn't give two shits about whether or not Cartman learned anything by "studying" with them. Kyle had other things on his mind.

His plan was simple, start checking out girls. It would work, right? Just focus his sexual energy on them, not in a creepy way, just in a way that'd hopefully put Stan in his proper place: his best friend. Nothing beyond that.

_"Sometimes the simplest answers are the hardest to find." _He recalled what he had told Stan weeks before.

Kyle didn't know if Stan was in the cafeteria or not, but it didn't matter. Kyle stood near the backs of the lines, waiting for an attractive girl to walk up to the back of one. He spotted his target, a girl wearing a short skirt, a sleeve-less tank top with beautiful, shiny blond hair got into the salad line. Kyle quickly got in line behind her. He stared down at her shoes first to look like he was bored. Then, he'd look up slowly, stare at the ceiling or the top of the wall across the cafeteria, then slowly glance back down, doing his best to look inconspicuous.

He took in everything about her: her ankles, calves, thighs, waist, slim shoulders, delicate hands, pink fingernails, perfect hair, subtle perfume...and...nothing. Kyle knew that most any guy would be attracted to her. He knew what "hot" was. He just wasn't getting hit with it here. He pictured a topless Stan with his back to him, turning to him and smiling, as if inviting Kyle to touch him.

_"Fuck me."_

_-----_

Kyle was both pissed and depressed when he arrived at health class. He'd actually gotten a good night's sleep relying on his plan to work. _"Fuck you, plan! I'm a fuckin' loser!"_ He shouted at himself, plopping himself down into his seat and putting his head down on his folded arms laying strewn across the top of his desk.

"Your brain a bit tired, Kyle?" Kenny asked, sitting down next to Kyle.

"You could say that."

"You sure your college level classes are worth it?"

Kyle grinned slightly at Kenny's ignorance, not to mention concern. He and Stan rarely talked to Kenny outside of school due to his job. They'd only talk in chemistry or health, mainly about Kenny's job, track, school, or maybe games. Almost every day Kenny would talk about his latest romp with some hot girl. Kyle still enjoyed hearing these for the most part, it took his mind off things...okay, off of Stan. Sometimes Kenny would go a little overboard, calling the girls whores or sluts or something.

"Damn Kenny, you have _no_ place to talk. Fuckin' pot is calling the kettle black."

"Listen, if you'd spent the night with this girl, you'd understand. I bet she started when she was 11."

"Jesus, Kenny!" Stan caught Kenny's last sentence. "I don't even want to think about that."

Kyle couldn't look at Stan at that moment. He was grateful that he and Kenny were talking, but Kyle was sitting in the middle of them, so it made it harder. He put his head down again, pretending to be worn out.

"You alright, Kyle?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry."

"I just hope you're not too fatigued, we've got track after school today and this isn't a great way to start."

"Thanks for asking. Seriously, don't worry about it."

"It's his harder classes, Stan." Kenny cut in.

"Oh yes...those _damn_ classes..." Stan's voice was laced with frustration.

"Come on guys, it's really not that bad." Kyle pleaded. "I'm going to be fine."

_"If only that were true..."_

Kyle kept thinking of a new plan during class. He would have to take it a step further. The thought shocked him at first, but he was desperate. He'd have to get a _real_ look at a girl. How? By sneaking into the girls locker room during gym.

_"It's the only way..."_

_-----_

After class, Kyle and Stan were heading towards the field for track practice. Kyle was still contemplating how he'd successfully handle sneaking into the girls locker room. This again took his mind off of Stan who was walking next to him, and it helped Kyle relax more around him.

They walked past the janitor's closet and heard a small crash, the halls were void of other students.

"The hell...?" Stan exclaimed, whipping his head toward the door.

"We'd better see if he's alright." Kyle reasoned. They walked over and opened the door...both their eyes turning into gigantic white disks.

They were greeted with the sight of Butters and Tweek...passionately kissing.


	5. Chapter 5

Butters hadn't known what pure, content joy was until he'd spent his time with Tweek that school year. Butters felt stronger; he wanted to be strong _for _Tweek. His parents noticed that he was acting different. They were afraid, yet proud for their boy at this stage in his life. He took great responsibility in his school-work, he was punctual, happy...as long as Tweek was in the picture. This was why they were afraid. Butters spoke about no one else. Whenever he got home it was, "Tweek and I had a great day at school!" or "It took us a while to get our lunches." Maybe they were wrong about Tweek, and he was the responsible one? Did all that caffeine give him some sort of special energy? They wondered if Butters would be able to think for himself if Tweek wasn't around.

They experimented by going to visit Mr. Stotch's sister who lived about 200 miles south of South Park one weekend. Butters asked of course if Tweek could come with them. "This is a just a family thing, Butters. I'm sorry, Tweek will have to stay home." They told him to bring his homework because they'd be staying until Sunday. The whole drive there Butters went on and on about his and Tweek's experiences in school, and how silly Tweek's suspicions were.

"I sure hope he's okay. He might be bored without me there." Butters would say day-dreamily. He loved feeling responsible...almost as much as he loved having Tweek around. The twitchy boy seemed like such an innocent guy, given to flights of fantasy. Butters would feel a warm, comforting sensation in his chest whenever he pictured Tweek's face, or imagined holding Tweek's hand whenever the nervous boy was panicked. Butters rarely worried about himself anymore. What was there to worry about as long as Tweek was okay?

It was that evening, alone in his guest room, that Butters started feeling hollow. He didn't even remember saying "Hi" to his aunt or giving her a hug. Without Tweek there to talk to, he started feeling uneasy, all alone, as if the world was going to swallow him up into a hole of blackness where he'd live in solitary forever. _"If only Tweek was here..."_He started trembling and he broke out in a cold sweat. He thought about going to his parents for comfort, but the thought of talking to them didn't clear this feeling of hopeless despair. He frantically looked around the room, hoping that maybe he was back at his house and Tweek was there. He spotted his backpack. He seized it and dashed over to his bed and poured out all of his books and papers upon it. Once he started flipping through the chapters, formulas, theories...his mind settled back on Tweek. The black ocean Butters was swimming in was swept away by a tidal wave of soothing heat, his personal sky became blue and beautiful again. He delved into his studies, studying past information and using that to trigger his memories with Tweek. He grew determined. "I'll see you again, Tweek." He muttered with a fire in his eyes.

That night Butters refused to come down to dinner, saying that there was a lot of schoolwork he needed to review. The next morning when Butters again refused to even go outside; his parents became worried, until they saw all of the school work he'd done.

"Butters, we're very impressed." His father said in surprise. He looked at his son then, he appeared exhausted, but his eyes were as hard and bright as sapphires.

"Dad, can we go home today?" It was a tone he'd never heard his son use. It was almost a challenge.

"Now son, we don't get to visit your aunt much. She misses you, why don't you spend some time with her?"

"Please?" Butters spoke as if he hadn't heard a word his father was saying.

"L-let me talk it over with your mother." Mr. Stotch quickly left the room, wondering what caused his son to be so forceful.

After talking they decided they should leave if Butters was so adamant about it. They figured he missed his friend. They loved their son, and he'd demonstrated that he was an effective student on his own. They left with their apologies.

"Good-bye, Aunt Nancy!" Butters called as they were walking to the car. His happy face put the sun to shame.

-----

The moment they got home that Saturday, Butters called Tweek and told him to come over.

"Y-your home?! I thought you wouldn't be home until tomorrow!"

"We left early." Butters tried to sound calm, but he wanted to burst into laughter after hearing Tweek's sweet voice again.

"We're about to have dinner, I'll be over when we're done!"

Mr. Stotch got a call from Tweek's father shortly after, wondering if there was something special the Stotches did there everyday.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Stotch was baffled.

"It's just that...my son has not been himself ever since you left. He hasn't been eating, or speaking, not even twitching! He might as well have been some stranger. I was about to take him to a doctor until he nearly ran me over in his excitement to inform me that you're home and asking if he can go over."

"Honestly, they just study from what I've seen. Every time I go up to check on them they're engrossed in their school-work."

"Nothing else that you can think of?"

"No sir."

"I don't know whether to be worried or happy for him. I'll see if I can get him to explain it to me. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Stotch."

"You too." He hung up the phone. In a confused haze, he said to himself, _"I guess they're both starved for friendship..."_

When Tweek rang the door Butters zipped downstairs to open it, and there he was. Butters felt like he was breathing fresh oxygen as his heart melted at Tweek's smile. Tweek wrapped his arms around Butter's waist and leaned his head on his right shoulder, saying quietly, "It's good to see you again."

"You too." Butters blinked back a tear, then grasped Tweek's hand, savoring that sensation he'd missed for so long, and led him up into his room, where they continued their friendship and their studies.

-----

Tweek was doing well in his school-work because of Butter's gentle patience. Butters never pressured him or asked for more than he could handle. Butters was fascinated at how Tweek wrote. He was in tune with his body so well that he could anticipate any twitches, and when they would either rise or subside. Once they left, Tweek could rapidly scribble down notes or answers. This gave his writing a sharp, practically manly feel, which would help magnify his energetic nature...making him seem almost dangerous. Maybe that's what other people thought of him. Butters would grin to himself for knowing the truth. He knew how fragile Tweek could be.

One evening Butters was visited by the Underpants Gnomes at his house. They had realized that taking underwear from Tweek held few, if any, possibilities of retaliation. So they came to collect. Tweek had talked about them many times and Butters tried to soothe him by saying there's nothing of value in underwear. Now Butters saw them with his own two eyes. There were four of them, one with red hair, one with black, one with grey, and one with yellow, with matching, full sets of mustaches and pointed beards.

"Whoa whoa whoa, fellas! Are you really here for Tweek's underpants?"

The red haired gnome spoke up, "That's right. Business has been slow so we need that kid's underpants." He pointed a finger at Tweek.

"AGH!" He screamed, with his eyes bulging.

Butters found their voices amusing, and chuckled. "Awww you shouldn't be so scared Tweek, they sound harmless enough."

"Hey! What are you laughing at, pussy?! We're not harmless! We'll ruin your shit if we don't get our underpants! We need to make a profit!"

"E-excuse me small sirs but I'm not a cat, and how do you make a profit from underpants?"

The gnomes had a piece of poster board ready to display with a flow-chart on it. "Well you see: Step 1 is 'Collect underpants'. Step 2 is..." He stopped, pointed to a big "?" displayed on the board, as if they could decipher what was there, "and Step 3 is 'Profit'."

"Ohh..." Things didn't look quite right to Butters, and he was about to ask some questions until Tweek cut in.

"Oh Jesus! What am I gonna do?! I think I'm down to my last pair of underpants! Too much pressure! They're gonna get me!" Tweek crawled into the corner with his eyes darting every which way, not looking directly at the gnomes as if not looking at them would make them disappear.

Butters got furious at the way the gnomes made Tweek so scared. "Alright, here!" He stormed over to his dresser, and pulled out over a dozen pairs of underwear, many of which were old and he didn't wear anymore. He shoved them into the faces of the gnomes. "Take these! But promise me you'll leave Tweek alone, alright?"

"Yippee! Look at all the underpants!" They started bouncing around excitedly.

"Do you promise to leave Tweek alone?!" He shouted at them.

They glanced over at him uninterestedly. "Yeah yeah, fine, we'll leave him alone. Come on boys! We've got work to do!" With that, they marched off, singing a little work diddy that Butters couldn't understand.

Butters walked over to Tweek, who still looked aprehensive. "D-don't you need your underpants??"

"I've got a lot of them, don't worry Tweek. They're going to leave you alone now."

Tweek's eyes lit up as he remembered the gnome's promise. "Oh my God! I'm safe!" He threw his arms around Butters neck and leaned his head against his chest. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Butter's heart soared as Tweek's hands firmly grasped the back of his neck. He got goosebumps all over. Butters returned the hug, elated at Tweek's expression of his appreciation.

"You're welcome!"

-----

Several weeks later Butters and Tweek had their final test on Lord of the Flies. Even though they'd studied extensively, Tweek was a wreck at the thought of the impending test. Butters would quiz him on characters, events, similes, metaphors and other literary devices. Tweek would freeze up until Butters took his hand and looked into his eyes.

"You can remember." He said soothingly.

Tweek would relax and then he'd rattle off the answers. Butters was thrilled. _"He's really learning...he's learning because of me!"_As they got off the bus and walked towards their English class, Butters was humming a song to himself. During this time Tweek forgot all about the test as he listened to Butters.

Then the test arrived and Tweek had to bite his tongue to stop from shrieking. His trembling escalated to the point his whole desk was vibrating, causing it to make small thumping noises.

"Tweek, please! There needs to be quiet in this room during test time!" The teacher stared at him.

He looked down at the test paper and ejected the word, "Pressure!" Through gritted teeth.

"Psst!" Butters hissed.

Tweek's head jerked to Butters sitting next to him. He looked into Butters calm, shining blue eyes. "Tranquility." He mouthed to Tweek.

Tweek had told Butters about the Plains of Tranquility, which is what he used to calm down. Ever since he'd been studying with Butters, he could visit there more often. Tweek nodded to Butters and closed his eyes. Tweek hadn't told Butters yet that his new place was in Butter's room, with him holding Tweek's hand and talking to him calmly. Tweek's anxiety faded, and he took the test.

-----

A few days later they got the test results. Tweek couldn't bring himself to see his score during class, he grabbed the test and quickly shoved it into his backpack. Butters was tempted to grab Tweek's backpack and look at the score himself.

"Are you sure you don't want to look at your score?"

"No way man! AGH! What if I failed?? What will my parents do to me?! They'll sell me for sure!"

"Okay Tweek calm down. Just look when you're ready to look." Butters replied soothingly.

It was after school had just ended and they were on their way to the bus when Butters asked again. "Don't you think you should look at your test now?"

"Ehhnngg! I can't handle it!" Tweek squealed, curling his hands into fists around the edges of his hair.

Butters displayed his best puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeease Tweek??"

"AH! You look at it!" Tweek thrust his backpack at Butters and turned around, wrapping his arms around himself. "Oh sweet Jesus..." he whispered.

Butters took a deep breath and looked at the paper. "92% Tweek!!" Butters shouted, waving the paper in the air. This caused some students further down the hall-way to turn around, and at seeing Butters frantically waving a paper around they hurried off, leaving the low-traffic hallway empty.

"What?!" Tweek grabbed the paper, not daring to smile yet. Upon seeing the score he said quietly, "This is unbelievable..." His face lit up, and he gave Butters one of the happiest smiles he'd seen Tweek give. Much bigger than when he had his first taste of imported French Roast.

Butters grasped Tweek's hand in an effort to be closer to him, seeing Tweek so happy got his blood pumping. His eyes almost started to water during this moment as he reflected on how his help made this happen; how Tweek was making the effort to learn from him. "Good job, Tweek." He said in this most congratulatory tone he could muster, smiling and looking into those eyes that had hypnotized him so often, and at this moment Butters didn't feel like he was on Earth. He felt like he was flying through the heavens.

In his excitement and during the heat of the moment, Tweek leaned over and kissed Butters on the lips. Just long enough to show there was affection.

This rocketed Butter's from heaven into space for a split second as the electric jolt of Tweek's kiss hit him, sending sparks throughout his whole body, making him quake due to this new sensation. While he was feeling this, Butters mind went blank for a moment as he registered what just happened. Never had an idea like this crossed his mind. He couldn't even reason as to what this meant at first, the physical sensations were vying for total control of his brain as it cried to focus on them. To give it a jump start, Butters shook his head from side to side, while doing this he concentrated. _"Tweek kissed me. Tweek kissed **me**!" _He kept saying this in his head. Every time he did it made his heart rise farther up into his throat; thudding with excitement. Then it was as if a veil that was across Butter's eyes was stripped away. It was all so clear now; that kiss was perfect. Tweek was perfect. He wanted Tweek; who was often a nervous wreck, yet took the initiative to kiss Butters. _"Tweek kissed me."_This time his muscles responded to what his heart was telling him, causing his face to split in two as he smiled. His heart was on fire. All of this internal energy took away from Butters outer senses. When he brought himself back he saw Tweek banging his head against the wall.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" He fired into the wall in rapid succession.

"Tweek..."

"AGH!" Tweek whirled around and looked at Butters. "I-I'm sorry dude! I fucked up! Oh Jesus! They're gonna put me in jail!! AGGGHHH!!"

Butters looked around quickly, breathing heavily as he yearned to kiss Tweek again, to show him he reciprocated his feelings. He saw the janitor's closet nearby. He grabbed Tweek's hand, causing Tweek to yelp, and dashed over to the door, opening it and, upon seeing there was no one inside, yanked Tweek in.

"AGH! W-what are you going to do?! I swear it won't happen again man! Just let me go!"

Butters placed a hand lightly on Tweek's cheek, then moved in gently and placed his lips on Tweek's. This time, knowing that the kiss was coming, Butters went light-headed with pleasure as Tweek kissed back. Butters thought that his whole life was building up for just this moment. His heart fluttered as he realized that he belonged to Tweek, and Tweek belonged to him. He wrapped his hand around the back of Tweek's head, trying to pull him closer. Tweek ran his fingers through Butters hair, sending a thousand, cascading shivers down his spine. Butters moaned in ecstasy. He leaned into Tweek, causing them to push up against the wall, knocking a mop to the ground. Butters wrapped his other arm around Tweek's back, stroking him with his fingers as he pushed his hips into him; wanting to be one with Tweek. Tweek responded by wrapping his arm around Butter's waist, pulling him in as close as possible. Tweek purred as Butters glided his other hand through Tweek's hair and over the back of his neck, their lips never parting. Butter's whole body was alive with fire, but he was concentrating mostly on his lips. It felt like kissing Tweek was causing his oxygen starved brain to be pumped with fresh waves of it. He couldn't stop if he wanted to.

But he did stop, when the magic of the moment was shattered by the words, "Holy shit!"

-----

Kyle mouthed the exact words that Stan had spoken, as they stood there staring at Butters and Tweek, who violently parted, panting like they'd just finished a marathon. Their eyes were wide with fear, pleading for some understanding.

"Guys?!" Was all Stan could say.

Tweek slumped down onto the floor, a vacant look on his face as he stared at his shoes.

Butters chuckled nervously as he tried to act casual about the situation. "H-hey fellas! W-what brings you in here?"

Kyle could see tears starting to form in Butter's eyes.

Stan swallowed. "We heard a crash coming from in here." He managed to choke out.

Butters glanced back at the mop that was on the ground.

"Oh..." Butters was shivering. "Will you guys please not tell anyone about this?" Butters blurted out, sending a tear falling to the ground.

"H...how did this happen?!" Stan asked with disbelief in his voice.

"W-well um..."

As Butters tried to explain, Kyle could only think of that moment before Butters and Tweek stopped kissing. He could swear he saw a glow around them. Just the way they were so passionate sent shivers down Kyle's spine, causing him to erupt in goosebumps. Being confronted with two guys kissing was totally new to Kyle, and he felt almost...jealous for Butters. He was in a haze and couldn't decide on how to handle this situation.

"Look, don't worry we won't tell anyone. This is between you two..."

Kyle looked at Stan then, who was being sincere and doing what he could to calm Butters down and make him feel comfortable after the initial shock wore off. Kyle smiled at Stan's attempts. Maybe Stan had liked seeing those two guys kissing, like he had. This thought hit Kyle like a thunder-bolt, and he had to get away.

"We're not going to tell, right Kyle?"

"No." With that, Kyle turned and quickly walked away, trying to escape from the thoughts that Butters and Tweek were causing him to have.

"Kyle? Listen, good luck you guys, seriously." Stan sped off after him.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Stan inquired once he caught up with Kyle.

"Uhhhh..." Kyle couldn't bring himself to think of anything, worried about how Stan would take any response.

"Hey, come on. It wasn't that bad, was it? Just shake it off dude, be a man." Stan patted Kyle on the back, chuckling nervously.

Kyle winced at the contact as his thoughts flashed to how Butters and Tweek had their arms wrapped so lovingly around each other.

"Are you alright with it, Kyle?" Stan said accusingly. "You're not going to tell, are you? They really need their privacy right now so they can work things out. Whatever they're working on is their business, and we shouldn't mess things up for them."

Kyle wanted to hug Stan then because he believed that Stan was serious about what he said to Butters earlier; he wasn't just telling Butters what he wanted to hear. In fact he almost did hug him, he had his arms wide for the embrace until he caught himself and did an awkward high-five with Stan. Stan furrowed his dark eye-brows and gave Kyle a confused grin.

He stifled a chuckle. "What was that?"

"I uh...kind of tripped back there. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone about Tweek and Butters." Kyle replied, going red in the face. He turned away so Stan couldn't stare at his freckles that were being high-lighted. "You're right, they need to figure out what they want."

Stan nodded. "Awesome. We'd better get to track." Stan pushed Kyle aside and raced past him down the hall.

"Damn show-off!" Kyle yelled after him, happy that there was some distance between them now so Kyle wouldn't feel even more embarrassed about what almost happened. He recalled his plan for tomorrow, which caused his stomach to twist into a knot. "Just let me get through today." He said to himself.

"Hurry up, Kyle!" Stan yelled from at the end of the hall. Kyle jogged placidly towards him.

-----

Tweek sat on the floor going into near convulsions. Butters put Stan and Kyle out of his mind as he rushed over to where he was sitting and knelt next to him. "Aw geez, Tweek. Come on, calm down. Just tell me what you're thinking."

Tweek's lips trembled as tears started running down his face. "Christ...that wasn't supposed to happen...n-none of it was. ARGH I'm such an idiot! We had a great friendship Butters and I ruined it. You tried being nice back there and now we got caught. We can't be together anymore so you can try to pretend nothing happened." Tweek rocked back and forth, whimpering as he put his head against his knees that he had drawn up so they were touching his chest, with his arms wrapped around his shins.

Butters' heart started pounding as he thought of what to say next, wondering how to comfort his broken friend. He was honored that Tweek wanted to protect him like that. But he didn't want to be protected, he wanted Tweek. He had to show him that. He put his fingers under Tweek's chin and lifted his head until they were looking into each others eyes, Tweek's were filled with torment. Butters couldn't fly when Tweek was like this, he desperately wanted Tweek's pain to go away.

"Listen: for us not to be together because of a silly reason like that doesn't make any sense. What happened earlier wasn't an accident. You make me feel loved; you give me life, and I'm going to do whatever I can to make you feel the same way." He gingerly kissed Tweek, with his fingers still lightly grasping Tweek's chin. Butters felt those words come out of a hidden vault in his heart; one that only Tweek had the key to, and he had used it earlier when he kissed him. Butters pulled away briefly so he could whisper, "I'm not going to lose you. Please don't give up on us."

As they kissed again, Tweek was sobbing with joy.

-----

Kyle couldn't stop his mind from reeling during track as he kept picturing the kiss he'd witnessed.

_"What was that like? How did it happen? What **would** have happened if Stan and I hadn't shown up?"_

Part of Kyle was happy for them, another part of him was furious that they made him confront the thing he was the most terrified of at the time: Guy-guy affection. More than that, it didn't seem gross or wrong, even though they were pressed up against each other like two blankets.

_"That glow...did Stan see it? What does he really think of all this? I have to find out!"_

"Hey, Broflovski! Pick up the pace, will ya? You're not going to win any meets running like that!"

He glanced over at their coach, who as always had a smile on his face. "Sure thing coach! Just getting a rhythm down!"

Stan had a full lap on Kyle and pulled up next to him. "Rhythm? No, what you're doing is slacking off! Come on man you and I are going to take this team to the top! Now don't let me down!" Stan sped off, with Kyle needing to stop himself from yelling, "Show off!" again as to not appear jealous. He shook his head and ran faster to keep his pace with Stan's, noticing his beautiful hair billowing from the speed.

-----

That evening Kyle had Stan come over to his house, not daring to invite Kenny so they could safely talk about Butters and Tweek. Kyle didn't ask right away, he waited until after they'd messed around with games or television. After that, during a time when they weren't distracted, Kyle asked the question, nervous as to what Stan's response would be.

"So...what do you think of the possibility of Butters and Tweek being boyfriends?" Too late to take it back now...he had really just planned on asking something more harmless like, "Can you believe those two were kissing?" He really did want to know what Stan thought about a relationship possibility, but he was too afraid to really ask, and now it suddenly happened, and Kyle bit his lip in fear.

Stan turned to Kyle with a half-focused, half-confused look. Kyle could tell he was processing the information and weighing the answers in his head.

"Butters and Tweek? Why?"

_"Oh shit...what's a reasonable answer to this?"_ Kyle scratched his head, causing his red hair to stick up, making Stan grin slightly. "M-maybe if they do get together we could...I don't know...help them? They could use it I bet, I don't know what that school is like to gay people."

Stan smiled. "That's a really admirable thought, Kyle. Yeah, if they need some sort of help, we should give it to them."

Kyle exhaled in relief when he realized he hadn't been breathing properly because of the stress he was under, but luckily things weren't falling to pieces.

"So you're okay with gay people?"

Stan's pupils flickered around for a second, he had a partially worried expression on his face. "I-I can't think of a good reason why I shouldn't be..."

Kyle couldn't figure out what Stan's hesitation meant. Did he not want to seem like he was homophobic? Was he still hiding his true feelings? Was he disturbed by it? He thought he should ask about the kiss...then concluded that that could make things worse. He didn't want to seem greedy for that kind of information.

"I can't think of a reason either." Kyle quickly stated.

"Hey I'd better get going, I've got some math and chem homework to take care of. See you tomorrow." Stan casually walked out, as if their conversation hadn't happened.

When Kyle got into bed to go to sleep that night, the first time he closed his eyes he again thought of the scene in the janitor's closet at school, and for a brief moment he switched out the two blond boys for himself and Stan. His eyes shot open and he angrily hit his pillow.

"Tomorrow I'm going to sort this out!" He said to himself...scared shitless as to what consequences his plan might bring.

-----

That same night Butters and Tweek were in Butters' room as usual studying. They vowed not to let anything physical happen so they wouldn't put any stress on each other. They couldn't stop looking up from their books and glancing at each other; blushing whenever they made eye contact. They couldn't resist after a while and, when Butters was sure his parents were engaged in watching their favorite TV shows of the night, the two gave into their urges and kissed each other as they laid on top of Butter's bed, enjoying the feel of the mattress underneath them as they rested on top of each other, caressing each other and giggling gleefully. They didn't need to take off their clothes; the feeling of their lips touching was plenty for them.

-----

The next day saw Kyle Broflovski exhausted. His mother had to yell at him three times to get out of bed. He had to grab a piece of toast and run to the bus stop so he'd catch the bus on time. Most of the night, the previous events of the day kept swimming through his head, like a tank of hungry sharks searching for their next meal. After a while the faces of him, Stan, Butters, and even Tweek turned into a kaleidoscope of features to the point where he couldn't pick himself out anymore. On the bus Kyle leaned his head forward on the seat in front of him, hoping to squeeze out a little extra sleep before school. Stan asked him if everything was alright.

"Must be tuckered out from digging for all of that Jew gold." Cartman said curtly.

"I think I see a box of donuts on the side of the road." Stan lied, pointing out the window as if he really did see a box lying on the road near to where the bus was driving past.

"Don't even joke about that, asshole!"

"Why don't you roll off of the bus so you can go grab them?" Kenny piped in.

Kyle didn't have the energy to join in, his mind was clouded and he tried as best as he could to focus on his objective during gym. Every hour that brought him closer to second period caused the butterflies in his stomach to operate at full capacity. Dozens of times Kyle thought about calling the whole thing off. Then he remembered yesterday. Seeing how great the kiss between Butters and Tweek was, wishing he and Stan could have something like that. Then he knew he had to go through with it.

As he and Kenny walked to second period together Kenny asked if he'd missed anything good. Because of work he couldn't hang out with Stan and Kyle much so he would ask them if there was anything going on that he should know about.

"Nothing special, dude, just school as usual." At that time Kyle didn't even worry about not telling Kenny about Butters and Tweek. Besides, it might gross him out, and he and Stan had promised not to say anything to anyone.

During gym Kyle ran hard to try and build up his energy, as well as forget about his fears. The gym teacher would have him and the other kids from track do separate exercises, namely stretching and running. His teacher was a woman, and she was involved with the girl's track team, so she and his track coach worked together.

Then class was over and Kyle started feeling sick to his stomach, he had to act fast and he hated it. Everyone went into their respective locker rooms to change and shower after gym. The girl's locker room was about 20 feet away from the boy's locker room. Instead of going into his, Kyle waited until all of the students were gone. He then had his chance to slip into the girl's locker room unnoticed. He was breathing erratically, but quietly opened the door and slid in. The room took a turn before opening into the main area where the girls were getting dressed. He tip-toed to the bend and slowly peered around it so only the top of his head and eyes were showing to the rest of the room. His eyes bulged as he saw what he came for, not 15 feet away was a girl top-less, about to change into her normal shirt. As Kyle stared at her breasts, he felt a wave of nausea hit him again. He felt like he was a sick person, strangely enough, he felt like he was _betraying_ Stan by looking at her. Instead of being excited and getting aroused at what he saw, he felt guilty, and not because he in essence took advantage of these girls' situation so he could see them practically naked. He still thought of only Stan, and how much more arousing it was to see his bare chest.

The storm-cloud in his mind became much more violent when he heard a girl shrieking, "_WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE, PERVERT?!"_

_-----_

"Kyle, I'm not going to ask why you felt like you had the right to go into the girl's locker room like that. I'll just chock it up to curiosity, but that in no way excuses what you've done."

The man talking to Kyle was in his late forties, with neat, brown hair, matching mustache, and rectangular glasses. He was wearing a white, button down shirt with thin blue lines spaced an inch apart running vertically across the whole shirt. He was sitting in a chair at his desk with his hands grasping each other in front of him as they rested on top of the desk.

Kyle sat in a chair across from him, his face was beet red. Kyle couldn't say anything to defend his actions. Wouldn't it be a lot worse for the principal to know that he was trying to somehow convince himself he was straight, and that he didn't have any feelings for his best, _male _friend? As much as he hated being labeled as a horny, shameless teenager, he had no other choice.

"Are you at least sorry for what you've done?"

"Yes sir." Kyle answered glumly. He was glad that the principal was a guy, otherwise who knows what kind of shit he'd be in because of what he did.

"It says here you're on the track team. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Kyle still couldn't bring himself to look at the principal at all; he stared at his hands as he tried to keep them still. He was shaking visibly and he could barely manage to utter any words. It felt like stones were laying on top of his chest, cutting off his air supply.

"Obviously something must be done about this. So, for the next month, I propose that you take time after school to tidy up the field. Clean up garbage on the track and the bleachers, keep the long-jump sand even, take care of the equipment. If you don't think you can handle that I'm sure we can find something else..." his voice became menacing here: "...and it won't be pretty."

Kyle stopped wallowing in shame and despair long enough to look at the principal and respond: "Yes, I can do that."

"Great! Then the problem is solved. You'll start next week, I'll inform the coaches about you. Before I let you go, be forewarned that if something like this happens again, you're going to be facing suspension or even expulsion, so you'd better keep your nose clean. Now get to class." The principal didn't say this harshly, but his tone was thick with disappointment. Kyle left promptly, thanking his lucky stars that his parents didn't get called.

-----

Kenny had seen Kyle getting dragged away after looking in on the girls; it was the female gym teacher that had caught him and she was none-to-gentle with him. Kenny had caught snippets of girls' conversations fuming about, "What the red-headed guy did." Upon hearing this, Kenny couldn't wait to tell Stan.

At the beginning of health class Kenny leaned over and said to Stan, "Our boy's growing up, Stan!"

Kyle had shoved that unfortunate experience out of his mind, and when he reasoned what Kenny might have meant by that, it was already too late. "Kyle snuck into the girl's locker room as they were changing!" Kenny beamed at this as if Kyle had just won the lottery.

"Damn it, Kenny..." Kyle's face burned red, adding insult to injury as he knew his freckles were coming out in full force. Kyle knew he couldn't lie his way out of this because so many people already knew, and even though he despised lying to Stan, he would have lied about this in a heartbeat if he knew he'd get away with it.

At seeing Kyle's embarrassment, Stan replied. "Uh...wow." Now knowing it wasn't a joke.

"Shit, the teacher is already here. Look, I don't have work today so I'm coming over after school so we can get the details. Savvy?"

"What?! No, _not _savvy you bastard! Don't even think about what happened, I'm not!"

"Oh I doubt that, sir." As the teacher began class, Kenny quickly whispered, "Later. I'm serious."

"Asshole." Kyle mouth to Kenny, who just smiled back.

Kyle looked over at Stan. He was fiddling with his pencil and looked worried. Kyle felt like garbage now that Stan knew about it.

-----

It was Thursday. Kyle and Stan had after-school practice every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so the they could go home directly after school ended.

True to his word, Kenny came over an hour after they'd gotten home from school. Kyle growled at him when he arrived. Kenny playfully smiled again and walked through the door. "Stan will be by later. He had an appointment with his asthma doctor."

"Great..." Kyle mumbled, dreading the moment that Stan would show up, demanding to know why Kyle would do such a thing.

"Well hello Kenny, it's good to see you again. Been busy with school and work?" Sheila called out from the kitchen.

"Yes I have. If you don't mind, I need to borrow your son for a moment. We have some school matters to discuss." Kenny winked at Kyle and walked up towards his room.

"What do you need to talk to him about, bubbi?" She asked.

"He's just checking up on me, Mom!" Kyle shouted down to her as he headed towards his room, fully intent on punching Kenny in the face. When he arrived at his room, Kenny was looking around underneath his bed.

"What are you doing?!" Kyle asked, his voice hitting a high note.

"Easy pimp-daddy, just wondering where you've hidden your porno mags."

"What are you talking about? I don't have anything like that!"

"Honestly Kyle it's nothing to be ashamed of. I didn't think you had any either until I heard about your little escapade earlier. That's how those kinds of things start." He moved over to the closet and started throwing Kyle's stuff out of it.

Kyle sighed in frustration. "I really don't have any, Kenny. So stop trying to tear my room apart and just sit down and ask whatever you're going to ask!" Kyle finished these words through clenched jaws.

Kenny shook his head and sat down on the bed. He sounded like a school-girl getting the latest juicy gossip on the popular kids in the class. "So what happened after they caught you??" Kenny bounced on the bed in anticipation.

Kyle massaged the sides of his head with his thumb and fore finger. "The principal scolded me and gave me a month of after school track maintenance. Taking care of the equipment and shit. He said I'd be suspended or expelled if it happened again."

"Hmmm...that's all, huh? If I knew I'd get off that easy I'd have been spying on the girls a month ago!"

"Ugh..."

"So he didn't call your parents or anything?"

"No, thank Moses."

"So why did you do it?"

There was the question he'd been dreading. He blurted out honestly, "I was desperate." He clapped a hand over his mouth after saying this.

Kenny's eyebrows shot up, and he chuckled as he responded, "Jesus, dude, _'desperate'_? You can't be needy like that, it's really unsexy."

"What's unsexy?"

Kyle spun around as he heard the familiar, young voice behind him. Ike's small, black eyes were looking up at him questioningly.

"N-noth-"

"Kyle got caught looking at the girls as they undressed in the locker room."

Kyle whirled around again to stare daggers at Kenny. "_Dude!_ Don't say that, he doesn't need to know! And what if my mom was up here and heard you? Asshole!"

"You what?!" Ike blurted incredulously. "Shouldn't you have gotten their permission first or something?"

"Smart thinking, kid." Kenny winked at Ike. "That's what I do."

"Guys...please." Kyle went back to massaging his head, harder this time than he had before. "Just don't tell Mom or Dad about this, Ike. It was a one-time thing, I was just being stupid."

"Really damn stupid I'd say."

"Ike!"

"It's true." He walked off as he responded.

Kenny busted up laughing. "I think you need to ask his advice next time you have any ideas like that!"

"Ah! Just go, Kenny! You got the information you came for!"

"Come on, don't be such a wet blanket. Besides, I haven't asked the most important question yet."

"W-what's that?" Kyle asked fearfully.

"What did you see??" Kenny leaned forward in anticipation, his sharp blue eyes piercing Kyle's, pleading for some good information.

As much as he hated Kenny at that moment, he couldn't help but think how cute he could look. He could see why he was so popular with the ladies. His features were sexily rugged and manly. He wondered if he would end up looking like Brad Pitt when he was older. Then Kyle's thoughts shifted to Stan, how he was even sexier, and how he could only think about him when he was looking at that girl's breasts. He swallowed as he responded. "I saw a girl topless."

Kenny leaned back as a flash of disappointment hit his face. "Hmm...that's all huh? Well what were they like?" Kenny sounded disinterested as he asked.

"Damn it, Kenny! I don't want to talk about it! I _really_ want to forget that it ever happened! Now can you please leave?"

Kenny sighed. "Just because you got caught doesn't mean you shouldn't embrace your courage, man. Hell, I've never had the balls to do something like that. Don't be ashamed, own it!" Kenny stood up and put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Let's do something, I haven't hung out with you guys in a while."

Kyle gave in, and they played some Halo until Stan came over. Stan lacked enthusiasm. It made Kyle sick to his stomach. Kenny asked about his doctor's appointment, and Stan responded that nothing was new and he got his prescriptions renewed. Kyle remembered the plastic, purple disk that Stan would have to inhale from. To liven the mood up, Kenny suggested they go sledding for a few hours. It would have been a great time for Kyle, but he was scared about what Stan thought, and during the sledding Stan rarely smiled at him, which was something that Stan never seemed to have a problem with before. After they returned home, and Kenny left shortly before dinner, Stan asked Kyle if they could go up to his room for a moment before he left. Kyle felt like there were stones strapped to his legs as he tromped up the stairs behind Stan. His heart was pounding with fear as they reached his room. Stan sat in the same spot as Kenny had earlier that day, and Kyle leaned against the wall next to the door to keep himself standing; he felt like he could pass out.

"Kyle..." The said boy's heart jumped at the mention of his name. He jammed his hands in his pockets to stop them from trembling. "...I just need to know. Did you do that in school as a way to...I don't know...clean your mind from what we saw Butters and Tweek doing yesterday after school?"

Kyle was bewildered, his mouth hung open as he interpreted the question. Kyle's mind raced as he thought of an answer, then he felt he had a good one that would hopefully help him sweep the whole thing under the rug. "What I did had nothing to do with those guys. I was just curious I guess. If anything, I was just excited at the thrill of sneaking in like that. I didn't care what I saw."

_"Damn, why didn't I tell Kenny that?"_ He figured he didn't care what Kenny thought of him, but Stan's opinion meant the world to Kyle, and he begged Stan in his mind to accept this explanation and to just forget about the whole thing.

Stan gave Kyle the biggest smile he'd seen that day. Kyle's fears subsided and he smiled back. "That's a fucked up way to get some thrills, dude! Maybe we should have gone sledding a long time ago."

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, maybe." Kyle had to stop himself from staring dreamily into Stan's eyes. This moment panned out perfectly, his quick thinking had saved him, and he didn't want to mess things up again.

Stan stood up. "Well I'm glad then. I thought that maybe you were disgusted by Butters and Tweek and did whatever you had to to make the thought of them go away, and that just isn't like you." Stan gave Kyle a quick hug, patting him on the back a few times. "You're sensible and clear-headed, and I love ya for it. See you tomorrow!"

Stan hurried out of the room, leaving Kyle standing there to savour their all-too-brief hug. At that moment Kyle really needed another one so he could convince himself that first one wasn't fake. The embrace was so genuine, and the fact that Stan had initiated it made Kyle's insides flip with excitement.

That night as he laid in bed, Kyle's mind was working furiously. Many events of the past hit him. The horrible mistake he made earlier that day, his thoughts about Stan, how he thought they started springing up more often after Stan asked Kyle how his mother was doing. This thought started a chain of lightning in Kyle's thoughts, his memories kept zipping around to when he and Stan had helped each other. Stan was there fighting for Kyle every time something was wrong. During his hemmorhoid fiasco, when he needed a kidney, when he joined the Blaintologists, and others. Stan was always in his corner, being the perfect friend...the perfect _person._ He kept thinking about him, how his hair shimmered when he laughed, how his eyes would glow when he was happy, his dazzling smile. His good looks in general. Kyle was thinking so hard that it took him a moment to realize how fast his heart was beating; how much it burned with yearning for Stan, pleading with Kyle to make the jump that he needed to. Remembering the hug made him tingle all over. Thinking about taking that hug further made his groin area come alive. Kyle started perspiring. He wanted Stan there to show him what true bliss was like, in the way he knew that only Stan could: by being himself. _"Wendy will curse the day she broke up with Stan."_ His mind flashed suddenly. _"If he was mine..."_If only Stan wanted him back, his life would be complete. He started stroking himself, trying to imagine Stan doing it lovingly, staring into his eyes. His heart beated impossibly harder. He jerked his hand away as it hit him, his mouth went dry as it hung open like a broken hinge.

"I'm in love with Stan." He whispered into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Cartman was just lying down to go to sleep for the night when he felt a pleasurable chill surge through his body. He rarely felt these but he knew it meant something big happened; something he could possibly exploit. A grin crept slowly across his lips as he thought of having something new to look into after he executed his plan tomorrow. He giggled wickedly. "First, I'll deal with you, Tyson."

-----

As much as it surprised him, Kyle felt totally rejuvenated when he awoke the next morning. Possibly because he wasn't hiding from the truth anymore. All the fighting he'd done previously had been wearing him down. Now, he didn't have to struggle anymore. He loved Stan. After using all of last night to accept this fact, he could now move in a new direction. How was an entirely different matter, but Kyle rarely was one to back down from new experiences, especially ones as important as this. _"How will I_ _show Stan how much he means to me?"_ Kyle thought this as his chest fluttered nervously. At first Kyle thought that admitting he loved Stan was a false alarm, just his mind shooting off randomly and taking his feelings to the extreme, but after contemplating it, he knew it was true.

"Well Kyle, you're looking good this morning." Kyle's mom stated from the kitchen weakly. Kyle wished she had as much energy as he did. He was always shocked at how quickly she could read him. He grinned at her worriedly.

"Are you doing okay, Mom?"

"Oh I'm fine bubbi, just had a little difficulty sleeping last night."

Kyle brightened at this. He knew she was strong. After having breakfast he waved goodbye to her. Upon reaching the bus stop he saw Kenny and Cartman, conversing wearily. Kenny winked at Kyle. Kyle's good humor was put on hold as he stood next to Kenny, asking forcefully: "What are you two talking about?" Giving Kenny a face that challenged him to be stupid enough to tell Cartman what Kyle had done the day before.

"Oh not much, just this and that." Kenny sounded as if he knew nothing about why Kyle had such an attitude. It really got on Kyle's nerves at times. It seemed like Kenny loved holding information and embarrassing secrets over other people, especially his friends.

"What's going on, Jew?" Cartman sounded a tad too interested for Kyle's comfort.

"I was just enjoying my day until your pig-face got in the way." Kyle didn't hesitate in taking the first shot in case things got ugly. He held his breath in anticipation of what Cartman's response would be, waiting to see what Kenny had told him.

"Fuck you." Cartman spat, putting his hands in his pockets. Cartman didn't add his usual venom to this remark, showing Kyle it didn't irritate him that much.

_"Damn you Kenny, you told him, didn't you?"_

There was only one person that could liven Kyle's spirits, and that person was Stan. But where was he? Kyle took a look around at the bus stop. He wasn't there. "_Oh please don't tell me he isn't coming today..."_ Kyle couldn't remember the last time he'd been this excited to see him, and to have him not show up then would be such a cruel twist of fate. Kyle just wanted to bask in his glory for a while, and let him know that school wasn't going to get in the way of their friendship any longer. Kyle felt so stupid for acting the way he had over the last several weeks, shunning Stan, and being ashamed to be around him. Sure, Kyle was nervous, but in a good way. He didn't know what would happen, but it was bound to be good. This was Stan after all, the one who had cared so much for him ever since they were friends.

Kyle felt a wave of disappointment hit him when the bus door closed. _"He's not coming." _Kyle thought dejectedly.

As soon as the bus started to move he heard a shout. The bus jerked to a halt and a few moments later the door opened. Stan walked on, panting slightly. Kyle beamed at him naturally, eagerly yearning for Stan to sit down next to him. Stan's eyes locked with his briefly. Stan flashed him a brief smile, then his face quickly switched to a look of worry as he glanced around the area around him and then took a seat near the front of the bus. Kyle slowly leaned back into his seat, his eyes wide with shock. _"Why..."_

His thought was interrupted by Cartman's snickering. He looked at Kyle with a happy, cruel gleam in his eyes. Kyle turned to him, not changing the expression on his face.

"Well isn't that unexpected?? I wonder why Stan would do such a thing..."

Kyle stared in front of him again. As much as Kyle hated Cartman for being so happy about this, he couldn't respond...he was thinking the exact same thing. He noticed that Cartman hadn't taken his gaze off of him out of the corner of his eye. Without looking, Kyle said: "Ergh...what, Cartman?!"

Cartman only snickered energetically again, slapping his leg enthusiastically with his left hand.

Kyle recalled Cartman and Kenny talking before they got on the bus. He reasoned that his glee was due to him getting caught peeping in the girl's locker room. _"Hmmm...maybe he thinks Stan is ashamed of sitting next to me because of what I did. At least the joke's on that insensitive fat-ass this time."_ Kyle smiled a little, but still couldn't stop the nagging feeling in his stomach. Why did Stan not sit with him??

-----

When they arrived at the school, Stan scrambled off of the bus. Kyle hated the thought that Stan was trying to get away from him. He hadn't said he loved Stan to his face...did he somehow know? That was impossible...

"Have a good day, Kyle." Cartman sneered as he passed him on the bus.

_"What the fuck is going on?"_ This was supposed to be the start of a new day; a new Kyle. Yet Stan was acting so strange.

"Do you know what's up with Stan?" Kenny walked up next to Kyle as they neared the entrance of the school.

"I...I really don't."

"Nothing happened with you two last night?"

"What?? No, nothing! Everything was fine after last night. He even accepted my stupid mistake yesterday and laughed about it."

Kenny smiled. "Hmmm...I'll see if I can talk to him."

Kyle was skeptical about Kenny getting information out of Stan. He appreciated the offer, but in a way he hoped Stan wouldn't say anything to him. That would mean Stan trusted Kenny more than he trusted him.

_"I'll be able to get something out of him in chemistry."_ Kyle thought with conviction.

Then he arrived in the classroom. Stan was seated in the back corner with occupied neighboring seats. _"Stan?! Damnit!"_ He walked over to his desk and asked, doing his best to mask his anger: "Stan, is something wrong?"

"H-hey, Kyle. Sorry I can't talk right now. I have a bunch of studying to do." He said frantically, shoving his hand into his back-pack to grab his book.

"Dude, you loath studying." Kyle responded with his arms crossed in front of his chest, tapping his foot in an attempt to release the anger swelling inside of him.

"And now I'm paying for it." Stan chuckled nervously. "I'm just going to need some time." With that, he shoved his nose into his book as if his asthma medication were in there.

On the way back to his desk, Kyle uttered a small growl. As he sat down next to Kenny, Kenny asked, "What did he say?"

"That he needs time to study? I don't know exactly! Something is not right."

Kenny glanced over at Stan. "He sure looks like he's studying. Just let me talk to him after school when I have some free time."

Kyle relented. "Alright. Just...don't mention me. Maybe he's hiding something. No matter what, you'll tell me what he says, right?"

"Hey, take it easy! You'll know what you need to know, okay?" Kenny responded, chuckling.

"Damn it..."

At lunch Kyle couldn't find Stan, and during their last class Stan sat in his usual spot, but acted like Kyle wasn't even there. He paid what could be considered devout attention to the teacher and her lesson. Kyle wondered if he was actually interested in the lesson or, more likely, he was ignoring him. The lesson was on alcohol and drugs, and while it was a lot more informative than what they'd been taught in grade school, it sure didn't warrant such interest.

Kyle could only sit there, going through cycles of anger and fear.

_"What is his problem?! Is he **really** that concerned about school all of a sudden? Why doesn't he ask for my help? Maybe...does he know how I feel? He's been my best friend for so long...what if he somehow knew before I did?"_

Kyle gave Kenny a hopeless look. Kenny gave him a thumbs-up, and mouthed that everything will be alright.

After school got out, Kyle saw Cartman walking towards the exit of the school to ride the bus home. He had a triumphant grin on his face. "What has that bastard been up to now?"

"What?" Kenny walked up behind Kyle.

"Hey, why did you tell Cartman about what I did yesterday??" Kyle whirled around and gave Kenny a stern look.

"Wha? Dude, I didn't tell him. If he knows, it's because someone else told him. Remember, a lot of people know what you did."

"Ughhh...right. Sorry, I just wish I'd never done that. I don't know what he's got planned but it's bound to be painful."

"Come on, the best he can do is call you 'pathetic' or something. You've already received your punishment."

"I wish I could believe that. I'll see you later, Kenny. Time to do some running again." As they waved goodbye to each other, Kyle thought how the only reason he enjoyed track was the time he got to spend with Stan, and both of them striving to be better. _"Maybe he'll talk to me if it's related to track. He always seems excited about it." _Kyle really needed Stan to at least acknowledge him. It felt like he'd fallen into another dimension, and he desperately wanted out.

-----

Cartman's heart was thumping with excitement during lunch. So often he'd forgotten about those damn seniors from the first day of school, and how they deserved to be punished. If he didn't have a job he would have taken action much sooner, but after much observation he found his golden opportunity. He saw one of them in a lunch line, arguing with an attractive girl, who Cartman could only assume was his girlfriend. Cartman got close enough to hear snippets of the conversation:

"Tyson I mean it, back off. You've gotten way to grabby for your own good, and it's borderline disgusting. Get a little class if you want to continue to be with me." She said this while squirming in his grasp, he had his arms wrapped around her, lightly gripping her breasts.

"Damn, babe. Lighten' up." He went to kiss her on the shoulder.

"Oh, 'Lighten' up'?! No, I'm not the problem here, you are, and if you continue to slobber all over me like this I swear to God I'll charge you with sexual harassment."

After a few exchanges of the words "Bitch" and "Dick" they parted violently.

He witnessed this a few days ago, and it got Cartman's gears cranking. "Sexual harassment, eh?"

Cartman had studied extensively the path Tyson took to leave the cafeteria. It was always the same door. Armed with this, and a small bottle of KY-Jelly, he put his plan into motion.

He approached the girl, and found out from discreetly eavesdropping on her that her name was Tiffany, and began to speak.

"Excuse me, your name is Tiffany, isn't it?"

"Uh...yeah. Who are you?" She eyed him with a hint of disgust, hoping this encounter would be over shortly.

"I'm just here to help. I found your student I.D. card on the floor outside of the cafeteria. That's how I knew your name. Follow me and I'll show you."

Her disgust was replaced with confusion. "My I.D.? No that's not possible, I'm sure I have it right here..." She reached into her pocket.

Cartman saw Tyson making his exit, and rushed over and gripped her hand and pulled her up. "No! There's no time! Follow me, hurry!" He yanked her towards one of the doors.

"Ah! What the hell?" As they left the cafeteria, she started complaining more. "Look you little chubby freak! What's your problem?? Let go of me!"

Cartman bit his lip to stop himself from calling her a trashy whore as they approached the path that Tyson was taking. He feigned confusion as he looked at the ground. "I saw it here just a minute ago..." He pulled the KY out of his pocket and poured some on the floor in front of him.

"What the fuck?!" Bingo. Tyson spotted Cartman holding on to Tiffany and rushed over to them, a few of the students nearby stopped and looked at the scene that was about to take place. "Get your hands off of her you fat shit!"

Cartman let go of her and threw on a face of shock as he hopped to the side, just in time for Tyson to walk into the jelly that Cartman had poured on the floor. Cartman had pulled Tiffany into that spot and position for a reason, and now it was going to pay off. Tyson's momentum caused by his anger caused him to slip on the jelly and jerk violently forward into Tiffany. By instinct, Tyson's hands shot out...directly into Tiffany's breasts as he plowed into her and they both toppled onto the floor.

As much as Cartman wanted to watch the spectacle with his own eyes, he knew he needed to disappear so they'd forget about him. Besides, plenty of people saw what happened, that was all that was necessary.

"Ow! Tyson what the fuck is the matter with you?!" (Smack!)

"Agh! I didn't do it on purpose you bitch! Like anyone would want to touch you!"

As Cartman sneaked off down the hall, he savoured his success. _"Aaaaaaaaahhhh. Now...for that other thing..."_

-----

Stan had spoken to Kyle during track. Unfortunately, all he said was: "Good luck." If Kyle had the stamina Stan had, he could have kept pace with him while they ran their laps and maybe forced Stan to explain himself better. But Kyle didn't possess that kind of stamina yet, and never had an opportunity to talk to him.

Kyle sat in his room later that evening, contemplating what he'd been told. Kenny had called and told him what Stan said, again, it was basically the same story.

"It's like you said, dude. Stan said he got in trouble for his grades slipping so he's trying to work harder so he doesn't get grounded. Not only that, but him getting a car next year would also be jeopardized. That's what he said."

"Honestly, if he's having that much trouble why doesn't he ask for my help? His mom asked me to help him study."

"Because it's not easy for him to study with friends? I don't know. I'm sure you'll figure this out. I'm sorry I've got a hot date later and I need to prep the Little Ninja."

"...the what?"

"My dick, Kyle, he's skilled."

"Fuck can't you be serious for just a moment?!"

"There's nothing _more_ serious than sex, Kyle. You'll realize that someday. Good luck with Stan." He hung up.

_"Ugh...with all the luck people were wishing me you'd think I'd have some by now."_

A little later Kyle got a surprise call from Cartman, asking if they could do another study session. Kyle was understandably aprehensive, especially because Cartman sounded genuine. Again, Kyle figured Cartman wanted to corner him with what happened yesterday while Stan was there and try to embarrass him. _"Won't work, dip-shit."_

"Apparently Stan is busy, so if _you_ can convince him to do it, then sure."

"No problem, Kyle."

Cartman didn't call back that night. Kyle smiled weakly. _"Of course Cartman couldn't do it. The only person he'd say 'Yes' to is me."_

Kyle held onto this thought as he slept, using it to comfort him as much as possible.

-----

That night Kyle had another dream. Kyle saw himself standing in front of Stan. Only the mouth part of Stan's face was visible, the rest was covered by a slash of darkness. It seemed as if they were in an old warehouse. "I know that you love me, Kyle..." Stan spoke in a hushed whisper. Kyle wanted desperately to see all of Stan's face so he could know if Stan was happy or not. Then Stan faded into the darkness. Kyle screamed after him, terrified that Stan was running away from Kyle's feelings. Kyle felt a sick, empty feeling deep inside of him right before he woke up. Kyle lay there with his eyes open, shivering slightly. The feeling still lingered inside of him.

Even knowing that Stan hadn't disappeared was of little comfort at the moment, if anything it seemed the dream was trying to tell Kyle something. _"What if Stan intends to never speak to me again?" _As ridiculous as it sounded, Kyle still couldn't help but believe it to a degree. Stan's behavior had been so odd yesterday. _"He must know something..."_ Kyle's chest constricted at the thought. _"I have to talk to him and get this sorted out!" _It was the weekend. Kyle had hopes of Stan interacting with him, but no such luck. When he called Stan he still held to the story of homework, or even "family plans." Kyle entertained the idea of just walking over there to confront him and do whatever he needed to squeeze the truth out of him. But as much of a jerk as Stan was being at the time, Kyle didn't want to be the same way. He loved Stan, and trusted that he'd come to his senses eventually. _"I just wish he could tell me what's wrong."_

When Monday rolled around Kyle got his wish. Stan sat next to him on the bus...looking rather embarrassed. Kyle couldn't help but be shocked.

"Stan?"

Stan scratched the back of his head. "Uh...hi, Kyle."

Stan looked so sheepish, and Kyle cracked a warm smile. Kyle saw Kenny give him a smile and a nod.

"Awwww...did you two make up?" Cartman cooed at them.

Stan chuckled nervously. "M-make up? What do you mean?"

"Oh I don't know. Just seemed like there was some tension between you guys on Friday." Cartman sat there beaming, enjoying making Stan squirm.

Stan looked down at the floor, his face flushing slightly. "I was just being stupid and selfish is all...kind of like you, Cartman." Kyle gasped slightly at Stan comparing himself to Cartman. But he was glad that Stan admitted to being a little stupid.

Cartman kept his composure. "Hey, you don't have to be ashamed of acting like me. Keep it up and someday you might turn into a true genius like yours truly."

"Oh I'm sure, a genius with a crack-whore mom and a warped view of reality." Stan snapped back. Kyle thought that he seemed a little on edge. Maybe Cartman _was _onto something...

"Oh ho! This cat has claws!" Cartman chuckled and leaned back in his seat.

It seemed like nothing could phase Cartman at the time. Kyle wondered why he seemed so cheerful. _"Probably because of what happened last Friday. He loves it when Stan and I are not getting along." _Kyle smiled again as he and Stan talked as always. Kyle didn't want to bring up Stan's behavior over the weekend just yet. He'd save it for lunch where they could have more privacy.

-----

Kyle found Stan in the cafeteria shortly after lunch and pulled him outside to a place where they could speak alone.

"What's up, Kyle?" Stan glanced around nervously, obviously knowing that Kyle needed to have a serious discussion with him.

"So...how did your studying go over the weekend?" Kyle crossed his arms and looked Stan directly in the eyes.

"Uh...i-it went over well. My parents are easing up on me now." Stan again looked down at the floor, rubbing his sleeve nervously.

"Are you still sticking to that story?" Kyle's eyes narrowed at Stan when Stan looked up at him again.

Stan sighed while avoiding Kyle's gaze. "No...of course not. I just...I'm ashamed of what happened Thursday night."

"Thursday?" Kyle furrowed his brow as he thought back. _"What happened Thursday?" _Kyle blushed as he remembered; that was the day he spied on the girls in the locker room. Stan fidgeted nervously as he waited for Kyle to finish thinking. Kyle thought hard. _"That night...that's right, we went sledding, and...Stan didn't speak to me at all until we were finished. He finally spoke to me about why I looked at the girls." _Kyle arched his eyebrow.

"Wait...you mean how you hoped I wasn't homophobic or whatever and spied on the girls to forget about Tweek and Butters? I...yeah I forgive you for that? I don't care really." Kyle was still completely confused. This was the only thing he could think of, and it didn't bother him one bit that Stan maybe thought that about him, what he had done was borderline insane.

Stan brightened up greatly and let out a huge breath. "Hey uh...yeah. Yeah! You...you forgive me? I just felt bad about it and all."

Kyle turned his head to the side slightly and squinted, still trying to process everything. "_That's_ why you were acting like that all weekend? Shit, why didn't you just talk to me about it sooner?"

Stan was still smiling jovially. "Like I said, I was being stupid and selfish."

"And you lied to me! I can't let that go that easily."

Stan's smile faded. "I'm sorry, Kyle. Look, I'll make it up to you."

Kyle nodded seriously. "Yeah, you better."

"How about a sleep-over tonight? That is...if you're not too busy?"

Kyle flushed slightly at the thought of being with Stan that night. It made him nervous, but there was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity. After not being with Stan the whole weekend Kyle craved his attention, and now he was getting it. He swallowed as his heart fluttered again. "Absolutely."

Stan's smile returned. Until then Kyle hadn't noticed it. It was a great smile. "Awesome, come over whenever."

With that, things were finally back to normal again for Stan and Kyle. Except...Kyle was falling for Stan even more.

-----

It was a good day for Kyle until he remembered he had his punishment to serve during track. Fortunately his coach let him practice instead of doing a lot of work, but Kyle still hated being reminded of it, more importantly knowing that _others_ were being reminded of it. At least the guys on the team thought he was actually cool for doing it, mainly because the girl he saw wasn't the girlfriend of any of the team. The coach still smiled at him, but it tended to falter. Kyle knew he'd have to work hard to get back into good standing with him. It wasn't all bad though, when Kyle was raking the sand or cleaning the hurdles, Stan would come by and cheer him up.

"Yeah, clean those hurdles up right. They're dirty...they've been _naughty."_

"Shut the hell up, Stan." Kyle shook his head chuckling

"You just need a bikini and you could be one of those chicks at the car wash that they show in slow-motion."

Kyle had to avert his gaze while he blushed slightly. It was embarrassing having Stan say that. _"Should I be flattered?" _Kyle didn't want Stan to think of him as being _that_ feminine. "Damn it Stan! I really don't need you thinking of me that way."

Stan cleared his throat. "You're right, dude. Sorry about that. Hurry up so you can get back to practicing." He jogged back to the track.

Kyle didn't like Stan leaving so soon. It was boring as hell sitting there wiping the hurdles down, but if Stan wasn't careful he was going to make Kyle feel even more self conscious. _"Does he really think that?"_ After several more minutes of staring into space Kyle slapped himself. _"Stop it! He's just joking around. I need to lighten up and not take what he says so seriously."_

After he was finished, Kyle caught up to Stan and told him how he'd fill out a bikini much more nicely. The small air of tension between them was instantly broken.

-----

Before Kyle left his house to go to Stan's he tried to tell his mother about it. He found her sleeping in her room. He found it odd that she was tired like that in the middle of the day. He figured she'd worked really hard around the house. He wrote a note and left it on the kitchen counter.

It was true that Stan was having problems in school, nothing serious, but he definitely could use help before his grades started slipping below average. Kyle was more than happy to oblige that night when he went to Stan's house for the sleep-over. Kyle was a great tutor, especially when he had an incentive for Stan to do well. If he did, that would make it that much easier to spend more time with him, Kyle hoped that Stan wouldn't get too smothered by the attention Kyle was willing to pour onto him. He felt that he'd pay close attention to Stan so he could determine if Stan needed more space. It would be hard to do so, but Kyle was ready to play things safe if needed. So far, Stan seemed more than welcoming to Kyle...at least during that night. Kyle had completely forgiven Stan for being so stupid during the weekend. He figured Stan deserved it, especially considering how Kyle had been avoiding Stan before that because Kyle needed to discover his feelings. Kyle had a nagging fear of Stan being so nice to him now, but not having any feelings for him and eventually getting serious with another girl someday. He was amazed that Stan was still single. Because of that, Kyle secretly hated that he loved Stan...there was a good chance that he'd end up being hurt in the end, but, having Stan's attention like this now was satisfying enough. He reasoned he'd have to settle with Stan's friendship...he just didn't know how well he could handle it when the time came.

After they went to sleep, Kyle woke up a few hours later to use the bathroom. When he was finished he came back into Stan's room and, because of the great day he'd had earlier, he felt rather energized instead of feeling the need to collapse back into bed. He knelt down onto his sleeping bag that was next to Stan's bed and looked at his peaceful, sleeping form. Because of his asthma, Stan breathed a little loudly when he slept. He didn't snore though, and the heavy breathing calmed Kyle, showing him Stan's strength and filling the room with his presence. He looked at Stan's face; his heart started to beat faster. He was so peaceful sleeping there. Kyle had a strong desire to kiss him. As energetic as he felt, he didn't dare go that far. However, he felt like he should do something. If anything, to prove to Stan that he cared for him. He slowly stretched out his hand until it was just above Stan's head. After taking some calming breaths, he rested his hand on his head and stroked his hair slightly, savoring the near silky feel of it. Maybe it wasn't really that silky, but Kyle didn't give a damn, it was Stan's hair, and that was all that mattered. It was still dark, but Kyle could swear he saw Stan grin slightly. Kyle prayed with all his might that the smile he saw was true, and not just a figment of his imagination. Stan stirred slightly, and Kyle darted quickly back into his sleeping bag, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and yelling even more silent prayers, pleading that Stan was still asleep. He heard Stan's breathing again after a few moments. After the moment had passed, Kyle couldn't believe what he'd done. He squeezed his hand, relishing the feel of Stan's hair that he could remember. As much as he wanted to do it again, he restrained himself.

-----

There was one thing that Kyle didn't count on to ruin his great mood the next day. Stan again sat next to him on the bus like old times. No awkwardness between them, it had been so long. Kyle felt great that he could feel more comfortable around him, although he did have to hold himself back from practically throwing himself at Stan. When Stan was being so bright and energetic like that, it was hard for Kyle to resist. So when Cartman shoved his hippo-ass into their life and requested some help with homework, Kyle was understandably pissed. Even level-headed Stan didn't seem all that excited by the prospect, but consented to letting Eric come over that day.

After school was horrible as well. Without Stan there running for track, Kyle had no one to talk to. He also had more work to do. He had to groom the foot-ball field and pick up trash. The weed-whacker the school made him used sucked. It took forever to start up and was loud as hell. He wasn't able to do a great job with it but fortunately his task-master wasn't looking for miracles. Kyle took one of the last buses back home. He was thankful that the school had so many buses that ran later on in the day so those students that stayed after had a way to get home.

Stan was serious about track. He informed Kyle that he was going to do some running around their neighborhood after school until Kyle got home. Kyle went to Stan's house as soon as he could and had to wait a few minutes until Stan finally returned from running, sweating profusely. In Kyle's mind it gave Stan a great, rugged look. Stan shot Kyle a smile through his panting.

"Wow...already here, huh? Have you been waiting long?"

"Nah, just a few minutes." Kyle tried to look casual as Stan walked towards the door.

"Good timing then." Kyle stepped to the side as Stan approached the door. His sweaty grip dropped his water bottle right before he reached for the door. "Aw damn it." As he shakily bent over to pick it up, Kyle couldn't help himself from leaning over to get a good look at Stan's ass as he was grabbing his water bottle. Kyle was behind him so he knew he wouldn't get caught. Once Stan stood up straight again and opened the door into the house. Kyle shook his head and blushed at what he'd done. He smiled. He couldn't help but admire Stan's ass. Kyle put his face in his hands. _"I'd better calm down, otherwise I'm going to scare the shit out of Stan." _He then followed him into the house.

It was only a few minutes later when Cartman showed up. Stan was cleaning himself up in the bathroom after he let Cartman in. He joined Kyle in Stan's room and grinned at him evilly.

"Good to see you, Kahyel." It was Cartman's pronunciation that caused Kyle to become defensive. Something must be up with Cartman.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Cartman. But you're here so we can help you. Any shit out of you and I swear I'll throw you out the window."

Cartman put on a face of mock innocence. "Why...whatever do you mean, Kyle? Sometimes I have a harder time at school because I have a job. Even your shriveled little Jew-brain should be able to understand that."

Kyle scowled. "You don't do well in school because you don't give a shit about _anything _but yourself and you use others for your benefit."

"No no no...that can't be true, I'm not a Jew. Sounds like a catchy song title, doesn't it?"

"Damnit, Cartman! Do you want our help or not?"

Cartman's wicked smile returned. "Of course I do."

Kyle was on edge the whole time Cartman was there. Wondering when he'd do or say something horrible or twisted. It bothered Kyle even more when nothing like that happened. Cartman kept his eyes trained on the two of them, never removing that annoying smirk of his. _"Is he waiting for something to happen between the two of us again? And why hasn't he said anything about me spying on the girls in their locker-room?" _

These thoughts were forgotten when Cartman finally left. Of course, he didn't thank them.

-----

The next day had Kyle in a better mood because there was no interference from Cartman. He didn't have to spend nearly as much time taking care of equipment as his punishment, and again, he went over to Stan's house. He was surprised to see his father home earlier than usual. "Dad, what are you doing home?"

"Your mother needed me to take her to the hospital."

Kyle's chest constricted. "The hospital?! Why? What happened??"

"Oh don't worry. She's just having a check-up. It's been a while since she's gone in for a visit and the doctor's are just making sure that everything is okay."

"Guhh...don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry, Kyle." Gerald gave him a pat on the back and went into his study.

Kyle was more desperate than ever to go to Stan's house after the fright he'd had. When Stan opened the door, Kyle had to restrain himself from hugging him. It seemed to him that Stan always exuded peace and happiness. It was weird for Kyle in a way. It must have been his smile. It made Kyle weak in the knees. Stan was getting excited about track again. He reminded Kyle that their first competition was coming up in less than a month so he'd better work quick on his punishment duties so he could practice hard.

Kyle had some studying to do so he pulled out his books and used Stan's desk to get some work done. This reminded him of how strangely Cartman had been acting the evening before so he felt like he should ask Stan about it.

"Hey...do you think Cartman's got something planned, or is possibly planning something? It's not normal for him to request help in something like school and he just sat there staring at us."

Stan rubbed his chin in thought. "Eh...it's possible. But with Cartman, any damn thing is possible. He actually seemed well behaved last night when you consider it. Besides, unless he's eaten himself into a coma that's always the annoying fucking look he has on his face. If he wasn't such a worthless fat shit it'd probably bug me more. But hey, he's had a shitty life for the most part so whatever lies or alternate worlds he has to create for himself to make the pain go away is something we shouldn't try to understand."

Kyle looked at Stan in shock. "Holy hell man, you've thought about this, haven't you?"

"Not _that _much. He's really not worth dwelling on." With that, Stan went back to lifting his weights, getting a more toned upper body. It made Kyle quiver with anticipation when he saw Stan's muscles bulging from the exertion. He also wished that Stan wouldn't work out when he was there. It made Kyle feel like he was getting weaker by the minute.

It was later when Kyle got the biggest surprise of the night. He'd had a hefty amount of writing to do for his AP Euro class so he'd had his neck bent down so he could concentrate. After a while it made his neck sore so he started rubbing at it.

"Aggghh...my neck is so stiff." He said to out loud to himself. Apparently he said it loud enough for Stan to hear, because Stan walked over and started rubbing his neck. Kyle's eyes went wide at the contact at first. Then wider still when he realized how wonderfully skilled Stan's fingers and hands were at massaging his aching neck. He had to fight the urge to moan pleasurably. His mind raced. _"Shit...shit...okay, I really don't want him to stop, but I can't creep him out. What do I say?!" _Kyle used the best level tone he could muster. "Thanks, my neck is really sore."

"I bet. You were hunched over the desk almost in the shape of a 'C'."

To Kyle's delight, Stan kept rubbing. Now Kyle could concentrate more on the feeling of Stan's fingers. They were strong and firm, but not rough at all. Kyle's muscles melted under Stan's caress. His neck had been transformed from a frozen tundra into a bubbling hot springs. Kyle closed his eyes. Soon after Stan worked on his shoulders. Kyle shivered slightly. He felt like he should be paying for this. Kyle expected Stan to just do a few quick rubs and be done, but instead he seemed to really take pride in what he was doing. His fingers probed deep beneath the skin and worked almost sensuously. Kyle wondered if Stan started this with Wendy, and what kind of phenomenal treatment she must have received. _"She's a stupid bitch to give this up..."_ Kyle couldn't help it, he let out a low moan. His eyes popped open and he flushed a deep red. _"Oh God...please tell me he didn't hear that."_

A few moments later Stan stopped and said casually. "Be right back."

_"With some lotion?" _Kyle almost laughed. He still wasn't sure if Stan had heard him moan or not. Kyle had never been more relaxed in his life. Ever. He really wanted to repay the favor, but he thought that sounded too "sexual." It would be a great excuse to touch him. He remembered stroking Stan's hair while he slept. Kyle enjoyed the thought...but for him it simply wasn't enough; he wanted _more_ Stan. He knew he'd have to be patient. Even worse...he knew there was very little chance that he'd ever be with him.

When Stan returned he was chewing gum. He wasn't holding lotion. "How's the homework coming?"

Kyle gave him a plain grin, doing what he could to not smile at him dreamily. "Great."

"Right on." It seemed that Stan hadn't heard Kyle's embarrassing noise earlier. He put it out of his mind the rest of the night as they joked around and watched TV and played Guitar Hero.

-----

The next day after they got off the bus, Cartman took Kyle aside after they'd entered the school and whispered to him, "So how are things going between you and Stan?" The question itself was innocent enough, but with Cartman there was always something underlying his questions. It was especially obvious when he asked in that tone, a tone which said he _knew_ things were going well but he had some news that would destroy everything, and he couldn't wait to tell you.

"Uh...good." Kyle answered simply, wondering what Cartman had planned.

"That's great." Cartman answered in a condescending tone. He walked away.

Kyle's mind worked frantically. _"Son of a bitch...I know he wants to say something about me peeping on the girls. When is he going to say it? What is he up to?!" _Kyle glowered at Cartman's back as he sauntered away. _"Wait...that's part of his plan, isn't it? To make me keep thinking about it and to keep putting me on edge! That fat fuck! I'll show him..."_

"Cartman!" Kyle shouted at him.

Cartman stopped and turned around, a look of genuine interest was on his face. "Yeeeeees?"

Kyle motioned further down the hall he was next to, one near the faculty offices where no students were. Fortunately Cartman followed. After Kyle stopped walking he whirled around and faced Cartman, almost causing him to crash into Kyle. "Alright Cartman, I know you've heard about me spying on the girls while they were undressing in the locker room and how I got caught. I don't know what the fuck you're planning between me and Stan but you can forget it. He already knows and doesn't care! So ha!" Kyle folded his arms and gave Cartman a triumphant grin, proud of himself for getting this out in the open and ruining whatever Cartman was scheming.

To Kyle's brief horror, Cartman stared back at him with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, similar to the face he gave Butters and Tweek when he and Stan caught them kissing.

"WHAT?! Jesus Christ Kyle! You perverted little Jew-boy! Oh God this is fantastic!! I don't think my life can get any better!!" Cartman proceeded to laugh incredibly loud, gasping for breath and pounding the brick wall he was leaning against for support.

Kyle really hadn't expected this. His face turned bright red and he curled his lip angrily as he turned his face to the side in an attempt to hide his freckles that were popping out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd blushed in front of Cartman.

"Ah ha ha ha!! Awww...is the naughty Jew ashamed of his freckles? God Kyle, you should be. They're probably punishment from God for being such a rotten little Jew." Cartman started snickering again.

Kyle growled under his breath and clenched his fists. He needed to win at least a little, so he slammed his fist into Cartman's face and stormed off.

"OW! Fuck! You'll pay for that Kyle!" Shortly after he started giggling again.

Chemistry was about to start and Kyle rushed to the classroom, he needed to be with Stan. When he reached the room he quickly sat down next to him.

"Hey Kyle, where did you go after we got off the bus? And why is your face so red?"

Kyle squeaked and threw his hand up to cover his face. "I-I'll tell you at lunch."

"Kyle what's wrong?" Stan questioned, motioning to Kyle's hand covering his face.

"Uh...my face is just hot."

"You're not getting a fever, are you?"

"No, I'm fine."

Kenny leaned over and whispered to Kyle, "Haven't been peeking at the ladies again, have ya?" He winked at Kyle.

As much as Kyle knew it was a joke, it still pissed him off immensely after what happened with Cartman. "_Damnit_ Kenny!" Kyle shrieked at him under his breath.

Kenny recoiled back and gave Kyle an annoyed look. "Okay I'm sorry Drama Queen."

Kyle looked down at his desk. He needed to think of something to calm his nerves. After a while he concluded that of_ course _Cartman knew about what he'd done in the girl's locker room, he was just really good at acting surprised as a way to embarrass Kyle. Unfortunately, it worked. Still, this helped Kyle shake off the incident and appreciate the attention he was getting from Stan, who was looking concerned for him.

During lunch Kyle told him about the revolting exchange between him and Cartman that morning. Stan chuckled at Kyle's ashamed expression.

"Forget about Pillsbury. If he keeps acting like a shit then I'll beat some sense into him."

Kyle reached out and grasped Stan's hand in what he hoped was in a brotherly fashion. He needed to have a little contact with him. "I know you will." Kyle smiled at him. If anyone saw it they would have sworn it was a smile of love. Stan just nodded and smiled back.

"What's going on here?" Clyde asked, staring at them a little hesitantly.

"W-w-we-" Kyle withdrew his grip on Stan's hand.

"Nothing dude, what's up?" Stan acknowledged him casually.

"Uh..." Clyde shrugged and sat down, "...just hating school as usual."

"Same here." Stan nodded.

As they talked, Kyle stared down at the table and figured he needed to be more careful in public.

It was when Kyle was alone and bored, while he was picking up garbage around the track, that he thought more about his feelings for Stan and how he was expressing them. So far he figured he wasn't doing a great job; he was being too forward. He entertained the idea of somehow making Stan fall in love with him. His attention wasn't focused on another girl, thank Moses, so it shouldn't be too hard. His thoughts were interrupted by a younger football player, holding a helmet with their mascot's logo on it, a snowman with a headband holding his arm-twigs up in a karate stance, who asked him: "Why are you cleaning up all this shit out here?"

"Uh...extra credit."

"Damn. I'd _never_ get that desperate for grades." The boy jogged back to the field surrounded by the track.

Kyle scrunched his face in annoyance at the boy's condescending remark. He then took a look out over the track. His eyes lit up as he remembered how excited Stan was about track. Kyle was now determined to be the best on the team to impress Stan. It made perfect sense and wasn't too overt. _"He'll see what I can do."_

-----

Over the next several weeks Kyle held fast to his newest plan. So much so that the coach took notice and gave him a lot more leeway on his chores around the field. Seeing how their first meet was coming up soon, he wanted his runners to give it their all, and he was happy to see Kyle working so hard. The first week was hell for Kyle. He pushed himself too hard and would finish the day with his chest heaving, his legs rubbery and weak, and his feet covered in blisters. He thought about just giving up until Stan started lavishing him with praise. Saying how awesome it was that Kyle was also excited for the meet and was training so hard. After they were done for the day Stan would walk with Kyle to the showers and, while they washed up, would give him some additional pointers on breathing and stride. Kyle appreciated the help, but he just loved seeing Stan bare-chested with water glistening on his pecks. Kyle did want to see _all _of Stan, but was thankful that there were separate stalls to shower in because after seeing Stan like that Kyle was usually quite erect. He always held his shirt over his crotch in case one of the other guys happened to look that way.

Kyle was surprised at how much better he was doing. He figured that he wasn't trying as hard as he could have been before. He didn't really know why he had joined track. Just to spend time with Stan probably. He didn't need to run fast to do that. But now...running faster meant respect and attention from Stan. Kyle was productive when there was a clear goal ahead of him.

Also, Cartman was rarely seen by Kyle, much to Kyle's delight. A few times he asked Kyle for some of his old history notes and Kyle gave them to him if Cartman promised to leave him alone. Kyle planned on Cartman making an empty promise with him but he didn't really care about his old notes. But, to Kyle's surprise, it seemed to work.

For once, Kyle felt like he was on top. Maybe he had a hold on Stan, instead of the other way around, until Kyle got the biggest surprise of the year. He saw a side of Stan he'd never seen before.

Kyle was at Stan's house one early evening when Stan brought out a guitar.

"Dude, what are you doing with that?"

"One of my classes is guitar, remember?"

"It is?! Why haven't I seen you with it until now then?"

"I usually just keep it in the classroom so I don't have to drag it around everywhere, but I brought it home last Thursday when you had to stay after school to clean the track and field."

"So...are you quitting guitar then or something?"

"No. I've been practicing something. And uh...ahem...I just want you to hear it."

Kyle eyed Stan suspiciously. "You're not playing something pointless like 'Mary had a Little Lamb' are you?"

"Damn it dude, no, just listen."

Kyle was genuinely confused as Stan sat on his bed, fiddling with his guitar. Did he just want Kyle's opinion on his abilities? Kyle could only assume so, Stan looked so nervous as he started to play. For Kyle, it was really cute. Then, Stan started playing. It sounded fine, Stan's fingers moved along the strings smoothly. The music wasn't complicated, and Kyle couldn't tell if Stan was playing some actual music or just something he'd wrote up himself. Either way, Kyle was impressed. Then Stan started singing. Kyle's eyes widened and his heart started beating faster as he listened to Stan's sweet voice. Stan wasn't looking back at Kyle, he was staring down at the strings as he sang, he was probably too embarrassed at the time to look at Kyle. It was a song about self-esteem. The part that really caught Kyle's attention, and let him know why Stan was doing this, was, "'Cause a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars." The song was short, and it sounded like Stan was telling Kyle not to worry about himself.

Kyle couldn't speak after Stan finished. He sat there staring at Stan's bed in front of him as he processed what had happened.

"Kyle?" Stan broke the silence. He was tapping nervously on the guitar and his face was red, probably due to embarrassment from playing. Kyle figured that Stan was embarrassed over his singing. Which was foolish because he did a great job.

_"I guess he did put himself out there by singing that. But why did he **sing **to me? Why?!"_

Kyle's continued silence was putting Stan on edge. "Y-yeah I know that was kind of stupid and queer. I j-just thought I should try to sing with a live audience if I'm going to t-take this seriously. Just p-please let me know if it sucked." It was rare for Stan to stutter so much.

"W-why did you sing that?" Kyle was curious, it _was_ about freckles after all. Did Stan know he was ashamed of them? Was it that obvious?

"Well it just seems like you don't like your freckles s-so I thought this might cheer you up a little. If I'm going to practice singing, it might as well be a song that has a purpose, right?" Kyle looked at him questioningly. "L-look, I know it sucked so just forget about it. I think I'll just stick to strumming."

"No. Stan, it was great, really. I just...never expected to hear _anything_ like that. Especially from you, nothing personal. I haven't heard you sing in such a long time..."

Stan grinned slightly. "Thanks, Kyle. Hey, it's been pretty dull today so let's do something."

To Kyle's surprise, Stan had something else to show him. Something more manly, it was a paintball gun. Stan would hold it like a marine as he showed it to Kyle and taught him how to load the carbon dioxide tank. They spent the evening littering the old snow in Stan's backyard with colored blobs of paint. The whole time, Kyle was distracted. Stan's song sunk in more and more. Kyle wanted to hear it again. It now seemed only like a dream to him. As he left for the night, Stan asked him not talk about his song at all. He wanted more practice first before he tried anything like that again.

When Kyle got home he searched for lyrics that had been burned into his memory to see if it was a real song. It turned out that it was, and Kyle was a little disappointed. It would have been so much sweeter if Stan made up the song himself. Then Kyle looked over the other lyrics and thought about what Stan had sung. Stan had made up most of the other words so it made sense in that context. Stan must have put a lot of effort into it. Kyle slowly shook his head in shock as his love for Stan deepened.


End file.
